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Why are governments allowed to collude like this? Isn't this the same idea as price fixing? Exploiting their monopoly (governments' monopoly on the right to do
by greenwich26 5y ago
Why are governments allowed to collude like this? Isn't this the same idea as price fixing? Exploiting their monopoly (governments' monopoly on the right to do commerce) to unfairly raise prices (taxes)?
The world needs at least somewhere where you can opt-out from Western neoliberalism and socialism.
- trainsplanes 5y agoThere are some countries that you can move to that are generally free of the laws of western nations. For some reason, people from “western neoliberal and socialist” countries generally don’t move to them, though.
- Chris2048 5y agoBecause if they did, bombs would soon fall in order to destabilise that threat.
- lixtra 5y agoI have difficulties to come up with current examples. Maybe some could argue that pre Soviet Afghanistan (in the ‘60) was such a place. But today?
- Chris2048 5y agoIts similarly difficult to find examples of competent propaganda ; because anything easily labeled propaganda is not competent. Scientific and logical principles of "evidence" to not apply to human political systems, b/c the method of inquiry are too compromised by the power the system wields over them. Even information about Afghanistan comes through via the government. But today? There is us nothing modern the government wants you to know about.
- greenwich26 5y agoOn the contrary, those countries are extremely popular places to base your business activities or start a company or manage your finances from. Ever been to Bermuda? Or the Virgin Islands? You can't move for wealthy industrious Western expats and their business ventures. And also to a lesser extent Ireland, the Luxembourg, Singapore, Switzerland, etc. These are all some of the most popular countries to move to in the world. But now the United States and Canada and whoever else is the G7 are trying to shut them down and force everyone to follow their hellish tax laws.
- trainsplanes 5y agoAre you implying Ireland, Luxembourg, Bermuda (part of the UK), the Virgin Islands (part of the US and UK), Singapore, and Switzerland aren't western countries part of or at very least allied with and influenced by other western "neoliberal" countries/G7? Because that's a very, uh, unique idea. Also weird to jump from implying escape from western influence doesn't exist to listing western countries as a way to escape from the west.
- alentist 5y agoAre you implying they're socialist?
- trainsplanes 5y agoI'm directly stating that they're not, and the implication that any G7 country is socialist is bizarre.
- pclmulqdq 5y agoPeople do move there. Singapore picks up a ton of US expats, as did Hong Kong before it got swallowed by China. Bermuda and the Caymans have tons of companies and restrict immigration so tightly that they are less attractive.
- peteretep 5y agoAre you trying to cite Singapore and Hong Kong as countries that aren’t neoliberal?
- alentist 5y agoAre you trying to cite Singapore and Hong Kong as countries that are socialist?
- trainsplanes 5y agoAre you trying to claim any G7 country is socialist, while suggesting an administrative division of the one-party socialist People’s Republic of China is a good alternative?
- peteretep 5y agoSingapore? Yes, obviously: Temasek and GIC own more than 60% of market cap on the Singapore Stock Exchange and 80% of people live in public housing.
- AussieWog93 5y agoSingapore has Common Law inherited from the British. Hong Kong also used to have British-style laws, until, as you said, it was "swallowed by China" (and even then, it's fairly Western on paper).
- ffggvv 5y agofor some reason everyone from socialist companies moved to the US and not the other way around.
- spywaregorilla 5y agoCollusion between governments isn't illegal, and there is no governing body that would prevent this. At best there are economic treaties between countries. This applies only to "global companies with at least a 10% profit margin". By definition, you're already playing ball with all of these actors if you're a global company.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- tonyedgecombe 5y ago>Why are governments allowed to collude like this? Because otherwise everything becomes a race to the bottom.
- greenwich26 5y agoCountries competing with each other to offer attractive business environments with the lowest taxes is a race to the top, not the bottom.
- tonyedgecombe 5y agoCountries competing with each other to lower environmental standards, workers rights and social programs is a race to the bottom.
- alentist 5y agoEconomic freedom reduces poverty. https://rd.springer.com/chapter/10.1057/9780230114319_3 https://rd.springer.com/chapter/10.1057/9780230114319_3 > Compared to those that were less free, countries with higher economic freedom ratings during 1980–2005 had lower rates of both extreme and moderate poverty in 2005. More importantly, countries with higher levels of economic freedom in 1980 and larger increases in economic freedom during the 1980s and 1990s achieved larger poverty rate reductions than economies that were less free. These relationships were true even after adjustment for geographic and locational factors and foreign assistance as a share of income. The positive relations between the level and change in economic freedom and reductions in poverty were both statistically significant and robust across alternative specifications. > Some fear that growth propelled by economic freedom will leave the poor behind. This was not the case during 1980–2005. During this quarter of a century, the developing countries that moved the most toward economic freedom achieved both strong economic growth and substantial reductions in poverty. This indicates that an institutional and policy environment consistent with economic freedom is an important ingredient for progress against poverty. https://www.mohrsiebeck.com/en/article/the-relationship-between-economic-freedom-and-poverty-rates-cross-country-evidence-101628jite-2020-0042 https://www.mohrsiebeck.com/en/article/the-relationship-betw... > We study the relationship between economic freedom and poverty rates in 151 countries over a twenty-year period. Using the World Bank's poverty headcounts of those living on less than $1.90 per day, $3.20 per day, and $5.50 per day, we find evidence that economic freedom, measured by the Heritage Foundation's Index of Economic Freedom, is associated with lower poverty rates. We also test the effect of various components of the Index of Economic Freedom. We find that a government's integrity and a country's trade freedom are associated with lower poverty rates. We check the robustness of our results using alternative freedom indices. See also https://cei.org/blog/why-economic-freedom-is-the-best-weapon-against-poverty/ https://cei.org/blog/why-economic-freedom-is-the-best-weapon...
- ko27 5y agoThe answer to your question is simple. Governments are the highest sovereign bodies. They can agree on whatever they want.
- greenwich26 5y agoYou are right, of course. But Rousseau made it quite clear that the sovereignty of a government is discretionary. This sort of thinking isn't convincing on an ideological or theoretical level to anyone but a medieval peasant, and it only increases my indignation.
- seoaeu 5y agoThen be indignant I guess? Countries pressuring each other to do things dates back as far as the existence of countries. And it isn't like this is a broadly unpopular idea either. Most people do actually believe that multinational corporation should pay their fair share of taxes.
- yaa_minu 5y agoIt's interesting that you're being downvoted but you make a solid point. People in government are no different than those not in government, we're the same human beings. To suggest that they should be able to do anything they want seems pretty backwards and quite contrary to the enlightenment ideas.
- viraptor 5y agoIt's a philosophical point disconnected from reality. In most countries we've got some system of elected government with various branches who get more power and influence than other people. Having a solid philosophical point against it doesn't change the world.
- dane-pgp 5y ago"Why is the government allowed to put me in prison for not paying my taxes, but when I kidnap someone and lock them up in my basement, I'm somehow the bad guy?!"
- dgb23 5y agoCorporations profit the most from infrastructure, education and other collective achievements of a society, so it makes sense that they also funnel resources into that system. The charitable interpretation of this agreement is that this is to be achieved by coordinating taxes of multinational corporations. It seems reasonable to me, strategically speaking. I have political reservations (to say the least) towards high concentration of power though, since we’re talking large corporations, G7 and so on.
- uniqueid 5y agoCracking down on corporate tax avoidance is antithetical to 'neoliberalism', no?
- peteretep 5y agoOn the internet “neoliberalism” simply means “stuff I don’t like involving capitalists”
- csomar 5y ago> The world needs at least somewhere where you can opt-out from Western neoliberalism and socialism. Welcome to Iran...
- greenwich26 5y agoIran's history for the past 200 years is nothing but an alternation of American, British, and Russian/Soviet installed governments, compounded by a foreign religion (Islam) which is actually worse than socialism in terms of destroying a country.
- csomar 5y agoI specifically mentioned Iran because they have a very low fiscal pressure (around 7%) comparing to say Cuba (40%) or France (46%). Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_tax_revenue_to_GDP_ratio https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_tax_reven...