Unemployment has hit record levels, banks are failing, increasingly angry protest marches have become commonplace, devastating cuts to public services are being universally imposed and a full-blown bail-out from the European Union remains a distinct possibility.

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John L. Mikesell, an Indiana University public finance professor, says that since the sales tax is meant to tax personal consumption, it should be imposed on services bought by consumers and not on those purchased by businesses.

FORBES: Who says massages aren't essential?

Imposed by the Financial Services Authority (FSA), and known as the Retail Distribution Review (RDR), many of the new regulations come into force at the end of 2012 for those sections of the investment industry that deal with the public.

BBC: Alliance Trust raises Isa charges by 60%