The decision ends a month-long public fight between two of the world’s biggest pharmaceutical companies that sparked political concerns on both sides of Atlantic over jobs and corporate tax maneuvers.

Our US correspondents have raised the question of corporate taxes.  Clearly part of Pfizer’s interest in this merger is to move its headquarters to gain tax advantages.  Over and over we see American companies, who did 80 per cent of their business in the US, locating headquarters in countries that offer tax relief.

Is it time to ask whether we should remove corporate taxes altogether and just tax dividends.  Pressure to make the company look good often leads to these tax-motivated moves.  If taxes were not part of this calculation, would the government get more revenue of the holders of a company’s equity?  Worth asking, we think.