A Sexy New Loophole

摘要

General motors spent a good part of January trying to whip up enthusiasm for its newest automotive offering: the 1997 Corvette. This sleek, ultramaneuverable sports car, which sells for about $40,000, will hit 172 miles an hour if you really push it. But high powered as the Corvette is, it's a mere jalopy compared with GM's new financial vehicle, which we'll call the Loophole. If all goes as planned, the Loophole will let GM and its stockholders dodge some $3 billion in income taxes—meaning the Loophole will produce more money in one shot than the Corvette is likely to make in a generation. An example, once again, of why some of America's best and brightest choose paper shuffling as their life's work.