Last Updated: Mar 25th, 2013 - 16:46:15 Newsletters : 2006 Newsletters : 5 May 2006 Thought for the Day Peugeot has made the 206 model at Ryton (near Coventry, England) for many years but have now decided to close the plant and make its successor in a new factory in Trnava, Slovakia. The unions at Ryton are calling this the last nail in the coffin of the "British" car industry while Labour ministers mill around bemoaning the workers' fate. Old plants dying in old Europe but new plants growing in new Europe where unions don't destroy business and taxes are low and flat. Surprise, surprise! Apr 29, 2006, 12:46 Newsletters : 2006 Newsletters : 5 May 2006 Ask not for whom they come, they come for thee. And speaking about destroying businesses we don't even wait for competition from other nations to make our enterprises crumble we have the actions of our own government to do the work for them. We need more businesses and we need stronger and bigger businesses. Governments cannot create them. Only enterpreneurs and business people can do what is necessary. What our governments should do is concentrate on having one law for all, justice for all citizens and the lowest possible tax regime. We, the people, will then organise our own lives to create wealth and happiness for our own families and in so doing will generate a thriving economy which will rapidly increase in size and generate more wealth for all. We can see this happening in many countries overseas these days. It is time for us to open our eyes to the best of the rest of the world and emulate them. Roger Kerr discusses the effects of government regulation on Telecom and I write him a letter: May 4, 2006, 12:21 Newsletters : 2006 Newsletters : 5 May 2006 SMEs Are Important to The Economy Lianne Dalziel recently gave a speech to the Accountants Society which I thought was rather interesting. So I wrote her a letter which follows. Follow the link to read her speech. Hi Lianne, I read your latest speech to the New Zealand Institute of Chartered Accountants and found it most interesting. It seems you are approaching the nub of the problem. In New Zealand it is the SMEs that are the driving force of the economy. SMEs make the money and provide the jobs; governments can only tax more or less and make it more difficult or easier for SMEs to survive and prosper. So many governments since the 1950s have taken the approach that “Nanny state knows best” and that the government can solve businesses problems and make everyone more prosperous and happy. This just leads to more government, which of course must be paid for, and “welfare for business”. It is bad enough that we now have Welfare for Families providing comfort for the middle classes but underneath it produces the moral hazard that causes people to rely on government for solutions to their personal problems. The best approach is exactly the same as for bringing up children. Lead them to independence and the knowledge that they can stand on their own two feet and prosper by their own efforts. In the words of that famous architect: Mies Van Der Rohe – “Less is more”. The answer is for the government to maintain individual property rights which are currently being whittled away, free up all markets as much as possible and aim for low flat taxes. This will produce maximum economic growth, increase the sum total of happiness in New Zealand and in the end provide better for New Zealanders. A wealthy and healthy country is one where the people are healthy and wealthy and the government is small and concentrates on keeping the peace and ensuring justice is maintained. Big governments lead to less wealthy people who are in poorer health. Numerous examples abound around the world. So, keep up the good work but just remember – “Less is more”. Phil Scott Parties for Growth Incorporated P O Box 10-282 Wellington Telephone 64 4 972-4365 Mobile 64 027 229 1519 phil@partiesforgrowth.org.nz www.partiesforgrowth.org.nz It is interesting to note in todays paper that Government regulation has caused a loss of $1 billion for the shareholders of Telecom and in a second small announcement, has become the richest government in our history. Meanwhile our people become more indebted, save less and become poorer and poorer relative to other more intelligently led countries. Government action caused a loss of $1 billion for Air NZ and the government used $1 billion of tax payers' money to bail them out. Since 1999 the government has taken an active role in TVNZ and has caused a loss of value of a few hundred million dollars. More regulations make it harder on business. Increasing taxes make it harder on business. Decaying infrastructure make it harder on business. Nanny State interference will destroy business. Lianne knows that SMEs generate the wealth of the nation. When she tries to talk to us we tell her we don't want to listen so she asks the accountants to do her bidding. Small and medium enterprises don't want to be "managed" like our schools and hospitals. Our hospitals have 12,000 beds and 5,000 doctors. Nanny State has employed 12,000 "health" bureaucrats - one for each bed - to manage that enterprise. Perhaps we need more bureaucrats to manage our businesses? Heaven forbid. Apr 28, 2006, 12:41