MADISON, Wis. – A federal appeals court on Friday reinstated Wisconsin's 71-year-old minimum markup law on gasoline, a decision that could save some jobs but increase the cost of gas.

Siding with an association representing small gas station owners, the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the law that requires retailers to sell gas above cost does not encourage illegal price-fixing.

The court lifted an order imposed last year that put enforcement of the law on hold after U.S. District Judge Rudolph Randa concluded it violated federal antitrust law and increased the price at the pump by up to 30 cents a gallon.

The appeals court overturned Randa's decision, saying the law does not require gas stations to agree to what price they will charge. Flying J Inc., the nationwide gasoline chain that brought the lawsuit, offered no evidence gas stations "are colluding or manipulating gasoline prices in Wisconsin," the court ruled.

The ruling is a victory for the Wisconsin Petroleum Marketers & Convenience Store Association, which argued its members would be driven out of business from larger competitors without the law. The association intervened to continue the case after Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen and state regulators had decided not to appeal Randa's ruling.

"The Unfair Sales Act protects all consumers by ensuring a competitive marketplace that leads to more jobs in local communities," its president, Matt Hauser, said in a statement. "That is its greatest value — and at a time when local communities are struggling, we need to do all we can to keep those good jobs."

The law requires retailers to sell gas for 6 percent above what they paid, or 9.18 percent above the average local wholesale price, whichever is higher. Stores can go below the minimum to match a competitor's advertised price. State regulators have rarely brought enforcement actions in recent years, but gas stations have taken advantage of the law to sue their rivals for violations.

Flying J argued it could sell gasoline lower than the markup required and still make a profit. The Utah-based chain sued to strike down the law after Kenosha-based Lotus Business Group filed a lawsuit claiming Flying J's stations did not mark up gas enough.

In its case, Flying J cited a 2003 report by the Federal Trade Commission that said the law was unnecessary, deterred competitive price-cutting and caused some stores to raise prices. A separate 1999 report by the Wisconsin Policy Research Institute, a conservative think tank, reached a similar conclusion and raised the specter of collusion among stations.

"This is simply not enough to support a facial challenge to this statute," appeals court judge Michael Kanne wrote for the three-judge panel.

Hauser said Wisconsin's gas prices track national trends and are set by market forces.

Flying J attorney John Mackay declined comment. The company argued that Wisconsin citizens had paid millions of dollars more than they should have for gas over the decades.

But Jimmy Peltier, a marketing professor at University of Wisconsin-Whitewater who has done consulting work for the convenience store association, said he disagreed.

He said his research of states' gasoline prices over 20 years shows those that have minimum markup laws have seen a slower decline in the number of gas retailers, which has preserved competition and kept prices low.

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GENEVA (AFP) – The IMF and the UN labour agency are urging advanced economies not to cut government spending before 2011, warning that a move to tighten fiscal policies could hurt the global recovery.

"As a general strategy, most advanced economies should not tighten their fiscal policies before 2011, because tightening sooner could undermine recovery," said the agencies in a policy paper issued ahead of a joint conference in Oslo later this month.

Several European governments have begun cutting their spending in recent months, after Greece found itself on the brink of bankruptcy and had to be rescued by the European Union and the International Monetary Fund.

However, the IMF and the International Labour Organisation noted that fiscal consolidations of one percent of GDP typically reduce domestic consumption and investment by about one percent, and raise the unemployment rate by about 0.3 percentage points over two years.

"A more severe consolidation would stifle domestic demand that is still weak," they warned in the report.

At the same time, the agencies said that governments should look at withdrawing subsidies for short-time work -- a measure that was introduced during the economic crisis -- as this could prove to be costly.

"During a severe recession and in early stages of a recovery, these costs are usually of secondary importance; however, they are likely to become more salient in recovery periods, suggesting that the subsidies should start to be phased out in 2011," they said.

Rather, policies should focus on keeping the unemployed in touch with the labour market, for example, by requiring that unemployment benefits be only issued to those who undergo training or take up social work, they said.

The IMF-ILO conference on September 13 in Oslo will discuss ways to bring about a "sustainable, job-rich economic recovery."

Speakers scheduled to attend the conference include Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou, Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero and French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde.

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SYDNEY (Reuters) – Actor Paul Hogan, star of the "Crocodile Dundee" movies, has struck a deal with Australia's tax office which will allow him to return home to his family in Los Angeles, his lawyer said on Friday.

Hogan, 70, has been barred from leaving Australia for nearly two weeks after the Australian Taxation Office served him with a departure-prohibition order while he was in the country to attend his 101-year-old mother's funeral.

The office has refused to comment on reports that it was seeking tax on A$38 million ($34 million) of allegedly undeclared income from Hogan, saying it does not give details of individual taxpayers. The actor has publicly protested his innocence.

But his lawyer Andrew Robinson said on Friday that Hogan's representatives and the tax office had reached an agreement after "a cordial and co-operative meeting."

"Mr Hogan is pleased to announce that the parties have reached agreement on terms (which include the provision of security) which will allow Mr Hogan to return to his family," Robinson said in a statement.

"While the Commissioner and Mr Hogan remain in dispute on more general taxation issues, Mr Hogan continues to protest his innocence and denies any wrongdoing."

No more details on the settlement were immediately available, nor was it known when Hogan would leave Australia to return to his wife and son in the United States.

Hogan has been in a dispute with the tax office for five years and is under investigation as part of Australia's biggest probe into offshore tax evasion, Operation Wickenby.

The tax office has claimed he put tens of millions of dollars in film royalties in offshore tax havens, a claim that he has denied. He has never been charged with tax evasion.

A popular Australian TV comedian, Hogan hit international fame as Mick "Crocodile" Dundee in the 1986 film "Crocodile Dundee" which went on to become Australia's most successful film ever and won Hogan a Golden Globe for best actor.

Two sequels followed and Hogan married his co-star, Linda Kozlowski, which was his second marriage.

(Writing by Belinda Goldsmith, Editing by Dean Goodman)

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