Article: OECD names and shames tax havens
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7980848.stm
Comments: To start with, I must say I strongly disagree with what the OECD has been doing and what — of course — the European Union is about to do as well. Naming and shaming tax havens (or tax paradises — as these nations are called in Czech) is something I still can’t believe is true.
We are in an era of tax competition. Like it or not. And the socialists don’t like it at all. They always want everything for themselves (especially your money); they hate the secrecy and privacy of the free citizens.
We’ve heard former Chancellor of Germany say it’s not possible for the new EU members to retain their low tax rates. Why? Just because the government of Germany loves being so rich they can pay for everybody’s needs.
Restricting tax havens is not the lesson they should have learned from the tax competition. The lesson as it was supposed to be is very different: Cut the taxes! Remember that cutting the tax rates does not mean necessarily the revenues will be cut (Laffer curve).
This coincidentally is an interesting combination of two phenomena of today’s governments worldwide. They don’t believe any obvious thing (even if backed up by economic evidence) and they believe they know best. They think they know better than the free citizens what to use their money for. And therefore, as a conclusion, they hate the tax havens.
In another article, I’ve read that also nations like Switzerland will have to change their bank and tax policy in order not to be blacklisted.
What more is to say than: Absurd!
Perhaps just a libertarian motto: Don’t steal. The government hates competition.