International associates:

Tavana & Co.
Chartered Accountants
Toronto, Canada
Tel.416-229-2221

• World economies nose-dive:
GDP of major economies fell
sharply in the fist quarter of 2009
 

U.S.A.	down	6.3%
Germany	down	14.4%
Japan	down	15.2%
Mexico	down	21.5%

Only "a gradual recovery," is
anticipated in the U.S. beginning in
the second half of this year and
unemployment will stay above 9%
through 2010.  Germany's GDP
performance was the worst since
1970.  Japan's was its worst
performance since 1955.  And
Mexico's was its worst since the
1995 peso crisis.

• Reviving a constitutional
protection against unreasonable
searches, the U.S. Supreme Court
recently ruled that police couldn't
search the car of a person or any
bags or containers in the car
without a warrant, when the police
arrests the driver or passenger of
the car, unless under a few
specifically established and
narrow exceptions.  The
exceptions arise out of significant
concerns for officer safety and
evidence preservation.  So police
can search areas of the car within
reach of the suspect for weapons
or evidence of a crime.
In the case before the court,
Arizona v. Gant, the suspect,
Rodney Gant, arrested for a traffic
violation, already had been
handcuffed and seated in a squad
car.  Tucson, Arizona police then
searched Mr. Gant's car, finding a
gun and cocaine.  Mr. Gant was
convicted of drug offenses and
sentenced to three years.  The
Arizona Supreme Court threw out
the conviction for relying on
evidence taken in violation of the
Fourth Amendment, which bars
"unreasonable searches and
seizures."  And the U.S. highest
court now agreed with the state's
court.

• For more of the Generalist,
please visit ARKCPA•COM.

• theGeneralist, a one-page monthly
publication of the accounting firm of
A.R. Kakhsaz Company, is in its 15th
year of providing information, presented
fairly and accurately, from sources we
can depend upon and trust.

• The number of babies born in
the U.S. in 2007 set a record of
over 4.3 million, with some 40% of
them to unwed mothers.  More
than 75% of such unwed mothers
were 20 or older.

• U.S. energy outlook is great:
A massive natural-gas discovery in
northern Louisiana heralds a big
shift in the U.S. energy landscape.
The U.S. is now believed to be
swimming in natural gas.  Even
conservative estimates suggest
the Louisiana discovery could hold
some 200 trillion cubic feet of
natural gas.  Huge new fields also
have been found in Texas,
Arkansas and Pennsylvania.  One
study estimates that the U.S. has
enough to satisfy nearly 100 years
of its current natural-gas demand.
Think of the effect on easing the
impact of energy-price spikes,
reducing dependence on foreign
oil, lowering "greenhouse gas"
emissions and speeding the
transition to renewable fuels.

• U.S. -- the uncompetitive:
Reminding Mr. Obama upon his
overhauling of the tax rates.
Here's the combined
(federal/central, state/regional and
local governments) corporate tax
rates in 2008:

Japan	40%
U.S.	39
France	34
Germany	30
U.K.	28
Korea	28
Netherlands	26
Czech Republic	21
Ireland	13

• We see more in numbers
than just numbers...

Ali R. Kakhsaz, CPA, MAcc
www.arkcpa.com