Last Updated: Nov 19th, 2009 - 11:07:39 Newsletters : 2005 Newsletters : 22 March 2005 Thought for the Day Bertrand Russell - British Philosopher There is no nonesense so arrant that it cannot be made the creed of the vast majority by adequate governmental action. In his "Unpopular Essays" 1950. (He might well have been thinking of "Political Correctness"!) Mar 17, 2005, 13:40 Newsletters : 2005 Newsletters : 22 March 2005 Politicians and Growth in the Economy As part of our drive to understand politicians' attitudes to our economy and to influence their behaviour in favour of much greater growth rates we are having a series of speakers - one from each party - to talk with us on this topic. Last year we invited Jim Anderton as he is the one most concerned with the day to day effort of generating growth in our economy. His speech was a very interesting summary of the growth that is taking place in our regions and included his new policy to reduce company tax rates from 33% to 30%. Now as you will understand we don't believe that it is a good thing to tax lots of people lots of money so that a group of bureaucrats (with political guidance) can give the dosh out to their own particular set of hand picked worthies. Less, of course, about 30% for the cost of the bureaucratic overhead in this process. But we do believe that reducing income and earnings related taxes provides more incentive for individuals to work and this will generate more business and increase the average wealth of all. Naturally those who do the work will get to keep more of their own money immediately but the increase in business will lead on to more employment opportunities and so the economy grows. More tax and the economy strangles. Lower taxes are now in vogue in many parts of the world amongst governments that are keen to see their economy growing. The concept of the low flat tax is fast gaining ground in Europe. Countries that now have low flat taxes are: Estonia at 26%, with Latvia and Lithuania quickly following suit. Russia has a flat tax of 13%; Serbia with 14% and Ukraine has 13% and Georgia now has 12%. In Slovakia all personal, corporate and sales taxes are at a flat rate of 19%. Romania has just introduced a flat tax of 16% and Poland and the Czech Republic are both pushing for 15%. "Old" Europe is trying to stop this trend and talks about "tax harmonisation" in an effort to stop money and business leaving for these "new" European countries. But it seems that the new countries would sooner be wealthier with a faster growing economy than "harmonised"! The Dutch are considering a flat tax (albeit at a high rate over 30%) and some advisors in Spain and Germany have completed serious feasibility studies on the idea. The pressure now seems to be on France and Germany to compete with this new wave of fast growth. In New Zealand this idea is being promulgated by the ACT party and we have invited Rodney Hide to come and talk with us on the 7th of April on the topic of getting increased growth into our economy. This will be a fun evening starting at 5:30pm with free drinks and nibbles so come and join us at The Thorndon Club at 4 Katherine Avenue on Thursday the 7th and get your questions answered. EMAIL ME FOR THE OFFICIAL INVITATIONS - BRING A FRIEND. WE AIM TO ENTERTAIN YOU SO JOIN US AND MEET OUR SECOND POLITICIAN ON THIS TOPIC - RODNEY HIDE THE LEADER OF ACT STOP PRESS Gerhard Schröder, the German chancellor, has just today proposed a cut in corporate income tax, from 25% to 19%. Things must be getting a bit desperate! Mar 21, 2005, 12:44 Newsletters : 2005 Newsletters : 22 March 2005 Toxic Saving Gareth has kindly consented to my request to publish this article in our newsletter. New Zealand is still at the cross-roads. Will we become the "Switzerland of the South Pacific" or are we destined to succumb to the socialist nonsense that "Nanny State" knows best? The purpose of government is to defend the shores, keep the peace within the land and to promote prosperity for the citizens. I don't know much about the first two tasks except that the results so far don't seem too good. My job is to help us all understand how best governments can create prosperity. This is a journey of discovery. No-one has all the answers and even those who see clearly what should be done are lost in the difficulty of making it happen - if the public insist on voting in politicians who have their minds set in the opposite direction. What is the point of having a rich and all-powerful government and poor and weak citizens? This charge for State Control has been cast aside by so many countries at the end of the last century it is surprising that it is rising up again here in New Zealand. It is time for citizens to understand that we will all be very much happier and better off when we have a smaller and weaker government and we individuals are wealthier and enjoy more freedom. Time to throw off the shackles of Political Correctness and vote for the party and the politician who can show you that they understand how to maintain a high growth rate in our economy. We cannot have a high growth rate with a large government. Currently our local and central government take up 40% of the economy and it is rising. No country with this level of "Nanny Statism" has ever had a sufficient growth rate to meet the aspirations of its citizens. Or, of course, we could just shift over to Australia with our children and grand-children as 550 of us are doing every week right now! Two jumbos full every week! How long can we keep this up for? I hope you find Gareth's article interesting. Mar 17, 2005, 12:51