* This is my article in BusinessWorld last May 27, 2019.
Many economists along with other social scientists and
social philosophers, enjoy playing God, by which I mean laying out in detail
their own private versions of the “good society” without being required to
suggest ways and means of implementing their precepts or even defend these
precepts with democratic political processes.
— James Buchanan
SYDNEY — That quote I borrowed from one of the slides of
Prof. Sinclair Davidson of RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia. He was
among the many speakers in the recently concluded 7th ALS Friedman Conference
and 17th World Taxpayers Association (WTA) Conference on May 23 to 26 in this
city.
That big event, with 500+ participants and speakers from
many countries across the world, was jointly sponsored by the Australian
Libertarian Society (ALS), Australian Taxpayers Alliance (ATA), Tax & Super
Australia, and WTA. The Americans for Tax Reforms (ATR) was among the major
sponsors.
Sinclair is a quantitative, facts-based researcher so I
attended his two panel lectures, one on “Money and Macro” where he showed the
above quote, and one on “Plain Packaging & Tobacco Harm Reduction.” He
observed that with the plain packaging policy in force in Australia since
December 2012, “premium pricing models were undermined, smokers trade down on
branding, effectively smoking cheaper, a failure to meet its stated objectives.”
Many participants were leaders of national taxpayers
groups, like the Canadian Taxpayers Association headed by departing WTA
Chairman Troy Lanigan, UK’s Taxpayers Alliance headed by incoming WTA Chairman
John O’Connell, HK’s Momentum 107, India Taxpayers, Korea Taxpayers
Association, Taxpayers Association from Germany, Sweden, Finland, and many
more.
I got curious about the tax rates for personal and
corporate income, and sales tax — the major pocket-boring policies of many
governments — so I searched the numbers, which are in the table.
European countries are notorious for having very high
rates in all three taxes. Australia has high Personal income tax (PIT) and
Corporate income tax (CIT) but modest Value Added tax (VAT).
In Asia, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan’s high PIT and
CIT may be understandable because of their high level of development and
industrialization. But India, Indonesia, and Philippines have high PIT and CIT
yet they remain less developed.
Several countries and jurisdictions do not impose these
taxes:
• Zero both PIT and CIT: Bahamas, Bahrain, Bermuda,
Cayman Islands, United Arab Emirates
• Zero PIT: Brunei, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia
• Zero CIT:, Isle of Man, Maldives, Vanuatu
• Zero VAT or Gross sales tax (GST): HK, Oman, USA
ALS founder and President John Humphreys, and ATA
Executive Director Tim Andrews, are very explicit about their organizations’
goals — less government regulations, taxes, size, and waste.
I met Joh for the first time at a Heartland Institute’s
climate conference in Chicago in 2010, Tim in a WTA conference in Bangkok in
2017. Both are young, cool, dynamic, and frank. Aside from leading their
dynamic organizations, they successfully put up that fantastic conference and
really fun-filled networking cocktails, gala dinner, and harbor cruise for
three nights.
The torch of the free market, less government movement is
alive and fiery in Australia and other parts of the world. There is more hope
for a world of more individual freedom, more personal responsibility, and less
state nannyism.
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See also:
BWorld 329, Jeju Forum and smart cities, May 22, 2019
BWorld 331, How governments expand, May 31, 2019
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