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My take on this is that Ireland is now willing to come into compliance because post-Brexit, they now have a monopoly on "urban core that could sustain an HQ for
by collectedparts 5y ago
My take on this is that Ireland is now willing to come into compliance because post-Brexit, they now have a monopoly on "urban core that could sustain an HQ for multinationals in a natively-English-speaking country in the EU."
In other words, they relied on tax advantages as a differentiator for companies to choose Dublin over London for their EU HQ. But now, what would you choose if not Dublin? Obviously Paris and Berlin are candidates but if you're a straightforward multinational, or certainly a company that is actually based/headquartered in the US, you're going to experience a lot less of a shock in a natively-English-speaking country.
So it seems to be that Dublin wins now, tax advantage or no tax advantage. Which likely makes drawing the ire of other countries for being a "haven" less worth it.
- SSLy 5y agoIf you mention Berlin and Paris, then also Amsterdam and Warsaw deserve mentions.
- Pet_Ant 5y agoWarsaw? We’re becoming the Texas of Europe, more than a little unpalatable.
- JumpCrisscross 5y ago> We’re becoming the Texas of Europe This is a bad comparison. Texas is a rich, stable state with access to the U.S. federal court system and unambiguously subservient to the U.S. Poland is unchecked, unbalanced, and much, much poorer. Its lawless regime is legitimately popular, evoking comparisons to pre-collapse Russia and Venezuela. In an alternate timeline, Warsaw could have rivalled Berlin or Amsterdam. Not in ours.
- aardvarkr 5y agoThanks for speaking truth.
- kardianos 5y agoHave you been to Texas? We like it here.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- ramraj07 5y agoAre you a white male? Because that's who likes it there.
- rufus_foreman 5y agoHouston, Texas is often described as the most diverse city in the US, for example https://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-houston-diversity-2017-htmlstory.html https://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-houston-diversity-2017-....
- renewiltord 5y agoHaha, yeah, and Fremont is the “Happiest City to Live In”. People aren’t moving all across the world to be happy in Fremont weirdly.
- adventured 5y agoYou're being sarcastic of course. However Houston is ~46% Hispanic. If you were Hispanic and wanted to live in a heavily Hispanic city in the US, that is also relatively nice, relatively safe, and economically thriving, Houston is a tremendous choice. So why not?
- ramraj07 5y agoAnd people in Houston said they like it in Texas? The point is that the urban population pretty much hates it there given the new laws.
- rufus_foreman 5y ago
- c2h5oh 5y agoMore like Alabama from stereotypes
- BuyMyBitcoins 5y ago>” We’re becoming the Texas of Europe” In what way? A ton of businesses are moving to Texas for more favorable tax treatment, fewer regulations, and lower cost of living. Is that a happening with Poland, too?
- selfhoster11 5y agoAt a guess, parent is referring to the Polish government pushing the country in a conservative direction.
- Pet_Ant 5y agohttps://www.cnbc.com/2021/09/10/salesforce-offers-to-relocate-employees-from-texas-after-abortion-bill.html https://www.cnbc.com/2021/09/10/salesforce-offers-to-relocat...
- ashtonkem 5y agoYou’re right, Poland is probably in worse position than Texas here. Texas at least has the promise of a federal system to reign in its more unpopular legislative instincts, Poland not so much.
- kybernetyk 5y agoWell, the EU is a bunch of unelected bureaucrats. Of course national law made by a democratically elected government should trump some unelected and possibly very corrupt bureaucrats far away.
- p2t2p 5y agoI’ll take unelected EU bureaucrat over elected Trump-like something any day.
- brigandish 5y agoDemocracy is very inconvenient, especially for those who struggle to persuade others how to live.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- TexanFeller 5y ago“You may all go to hell and I will go to Texas.” — Davy Crockett…and also me
- pnut 5y agoI've never understood that quote... Is he rising in defense of Texas, or is he saying Texas is his personal hell?
- lovemenot 5y agoLike "oh wait", it seems to derive humour from its implicit logical rebuttal: "But, Mr. Crockett Texas is hell." In a similar vein, this also from the 19th Century: A woman is only a woman, but a good cigar is a smoke. "But, Mr. Kipling a good woman is a ... oh wait."
- sulam 5y agoI think Hungary beat you there. You can aim for Florida still, though.
- fieldcny 5y agoIt’s truly a race!
- CuriousCosmic 5y agoI don't know if Florida is apt. The state has one of the strongest economies in the US. In terms of GDP, the ranking goes California, Texas, New York, Florida, and then Illinois. As much as Florida gets dunked on in the US, it's still an economic powerhouse of the region. Orlando is a major financial centre, there's a number of major ports, there's a strong agricultural base, and the state has a considerable amount of high tolerance manufacturing industry (primarily electronics, biomed, naval, and aerospace). The state gets ragged on a lot (justifiably so for some of our political leadership) but it's still one of the strongest states in the US by a pretty healthy margin. Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_states_and_territories_of_the_United_States_by_GDP#50_states_and_District_of_Columbia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_states_and_territories... Edit: forgot to mention that the state is surprisingly progressive once you get through all the election suppression. There's quite a bit of gerrymandering (not quite as bad as Texas), the state makes every effort to strip poor or predisposed people of their voting rights, and we have a lot of other issues but the state by and large despite that has been considered a split/swing state. And despite the voter suppression, the state continues to grow a strong/dedicated voting populace particularly with focuses on environmental protection. Edit 2: Sorry if this seems a bit defensive.
- Shacklz 5y ago> As much as Florida gets dunked on in the US, it's still an economic powerhouse of the region. Just looked at the linked list and when sorting by GDP per capita, Florida is rank 38. Not exactly what I'd call an economic powerhouse, just a state with lots of people?
- 5y ago
- DevKoala 5y agoHave you been to Texas? From all my trips there it is a lot like California. Also California is very different once you get out of the big cities, which cover only a small surface of the state.
- ranit 5y agoGP likely meant anti abortion laws.
- 1270018080 5y agoI think it's more of a comment on regressive legislation and ultra nationalism.
- refurb 5y agoWhat you call regressive others call progressive.
- 1270018080 5y agoGoing backwards is what regressive means
- refurb 5y agoIgnoring the fact the terms are used differently in the political realm,if I follow your logic, if we make marijuana legal again that’s “regressive”?
- jxcole 5y agoWhy? This comment is not about Berlin or Paris, it is mentioning then as examples of non English speaking cities. Is the author supposed to mention every city in Europe?
- pbourke 5y agoThe Netherlands has the highest English proficiency in the world [0] (among non-native speaking countries) so I imagine it would be a compelling choice. [0] https://www.ef.com/wwen/epi/ https://www.ef.com/wwen/epi/
- eru 5y agoYes, though still not quite as compelling, because you still have to speak Dutch eg at the playground.
- zeorin 5y agoYou really don't, unless you are a young child. At 10 I was already conversant in English.
- GekkePrutser 5y agoIt's worth mentioning that I'm Ireland most schools teach in Irish, not English.
- disgruntledphd2 5y agoThat is 100% not true, the vast majority of schools in Ireland teach through English.
- derekmcloughlin 5y agoThat’s not true. The vast majority of schools (90%+) teach in English.
- papower 5y agoAnother Irish resident confirming that this statement is not true. Most schools teach in English and teach Irish as a second language. Irish is rarely used in normal day to day interactions and never at work unless you work in an Irish language related area or government department that supports Irish as an official language. There are some niche exceptions: - "All Irish" schools where you optionally learn through Irish - "Gaeltachts" which are pockets of Ireland where Irish is promoted and spoken. Even here the locals will happily switch to English if you prefer. I like Irish and wish it was more widely spoken as an everyday language but in reality you have to make an explicit effort to experience it.
- gerdesj 5y agoI don't think you realize which Ireland you are talking about. There's Éire which is the Republic and there is also Northern Ireland, which is the UK bit in Britain. If UKoGBnNI decided to set a low tax rate ...
- jldugger 5y agoI promise you the Dubliners speak english well enough for the multinationals.
- DaiPlusPlus 5y agoHeck, they speak better than plenty of English people I know...
- Derek_Mudaxe 5y agoAn unwarranted and ultimately discriminatory snipe, but ok.
- SEJeff 5y agoNow those northerners from Donegal... Sound like they're speaking with a golf ball in their mouth.
- donalhunt 5y agoThe Corkonians on the other hand… LOL
- detaro 5y agothey are obviously talking about the one the article is also about. The other one is btw part of a country that joined the discussed agreement already at an earlier time.
- paddez 5y agoIreland is the name of the state in the English language. The name of the state is not the Republic of Ireland - that is the description of the state. Additionally, we don't call Ireland Éire unless we're conversing in the Irish language.
- _3u10 5y agoEveryone came on board this agreement. I'm guessing that there is enough wiggle room that low tax jurisdictions can still operate without much problem. Also, I think that defacto the 15% will become a maximum, not a minimum, similar to how posted speed limits are defacto minimums not maximums.
- tobylane 5y agoEnglish common law is the basis for the American and Irish systems. Continental European countries, including Malta, are different.
- mdeck_ 5y agoWhat does the legal system (common law vs continental) have to do with the parent comment?
- midasuni 5y agoIt’s another reason for US firms to choose Ireland over other countries
- fcanela 5y agoCyprus is part of the EU and have the same law system (they were a British colony)
- iamacyborg 5y agoThe sabre rattling between Turkey and Greece likely makes Cyprus fairly unattractive for large American corporates, however.
- gorgoiler 5y agoDublin is a beautiful city. It is very small though, compared to London. Imagine moving Wall St from NYC to Austin TX.
- Le_Dook 5y agoI think one possible downside is the amount of major datacenters in such a small space. It's about 7 or 8? And you've got Facebook, Amazon, Google the likes. Recently there was almost a blackout in the city cause the grid just couldn't handle it after we got rid of the peat burning power stations
- dylkil 5y agoDublin is also going through a housing crisis right now. The population grew 400k in the last 10 years and they built virtually no apartments.
- joveian 5y agoNot that anyone is still looking at this thread, but since I looked up some statistics out of curiosity: I think Portland, Oregon, not counting the part of the metro area in Washington, might be a decent comparison. Dublin city is a bit smaller in population but also quite a bit smaller in size. Oregon is a bit less than the population of RoI and Oregon + Idaho a bit less than the whole island (although much larger in area; Ireland is more like the size of the panhandle of Idaho). Also, Ireland (the island) is about the size and population of Tennessee and the Nashville metro area looks similar to the Dublin metro area (Greater Dublin on Wikipedia that looks closer to what is considered metro area in the US). The city of Nashville is larger in population but much larger in area (even compared to Portland).
- fckinghn 5y agoDublin? Beautiful?? Whaat??
- rusk 5y agoOfficial Ireland were dragged into this kicking and screaming. There really wasn’t much choice involved - unless the OECD brass were thinking in generous terms towards Ireland. If anything I’d say the timing of this is in part what drove Brexit - this has been coming for a few years now and “City”* of London is one of the worlds biggest hubs for processing funny money. * This is the somewhat cryptic name for the financial services enclave in the middle of London City.
- o0-0o 5y agoIt's not just a financial services enclave. The City of London proper is a whole other thing unto itself. For an interesting read, check out what it takes to become the Lord Mayor of the City of London. Quite a trip.
- tankenmate 5y agoThe "City of London" (also referred to as the square mile), whose proper name is "City of London Corporation" is a roughly square mile in the centre of London that closely matches the area of the Roman settlement of Londinium. Given it's age and heritage it has many foibles; it is its own ceremonial county, it has its own police force, it has quixotic ownership of lands (and sometimes even entire towns) outside its own borders (the city of Londonderry / Derry in Northern Ireland used to be wholly owned by the City of London, hence the name Londonderry). The City of London is a strange and almost anachronistic collection of a few dozen blocks surrounded by the much larger Greater London. Read up on it, it has some very interesting and strange history.
- rusk 5y ago> hence the name Londonderry This explains far more than just the name … thanks!
- mstade 5y agoI used to live and work in the city and loved telling people about the dragons guarding the city borders and the often weird and funny traditions. As much as the city is a hub of corporations it's actually far from the soulless place many make it out to be, and there is lots of interesting history there if you care to look. My favorite gateway drugs to learning more about the city of London are probably CGP Grey's videos: The (Secret) City of London: History Edition: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=LrObZ_HZZUc https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=LrObZ_HZZUc The (Secret) City of London: Government Edition: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=z1ROpIKZe-c https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=z1ROpIKZe-c