From the project's start in 1994, the company, together with a Russian partner, sought an agreement with the government to set future taxes.

The bank, of course, would simply not make the loan unless I agreed to increase the interest rate to cover any present or future such "tax."

In these models, agents anticipate future tax rises to pay for government spending and cut their own spending.

The government was proposing to finance relief from future taxes on Ireland.

The remaining amount can be carried forward 20 years to offset future taxes.

But under budget accounting procedures, the future taxes would be counted as revenue in this fiscal year.

Because corporations must put aside future taxes as a liability, such set-asides will probably have to be increased immediately.

Congress complicated the issue, however, by creating a new minimum tax credit that can be used to reduce future taxes.

Uses include projecting future taxes and outlays from different prospective current policies.

But it seems obvious that this is just an empty hope, and that future European taxes will be added to the others.