24/01/2006 10:39:55 am
In TCS: Size Matters! In the leading European web magazine TCS Daily, I defend free (tax) competition against the so-called social model, and point out that the size of the state matters to economic development:

"German Finance Minister Peer Steinbrück is urging new EU member states to raise taxes, since their currently low rates have ′nothing to do with fair tax competition′, he says. ... Instead of lifting Germany, he wants to drag others down. Would he be happier if all European countries had the growth and unemployment levels of Germany? ... If this is the definition of ′fair′, then let?s have ′unfair′ tax competition. ...

An increasingly common diversion now used to escape from reality is to say that the size of the state doesn?t matter ? that what matters is what you do with the big state. This idea seems to be shared by politicians as different as New Labour?s Gordon Brown and Republican George W. Bush, with his current big government conservatism. ...

We will have to compete, whether our politicians want it or not. And competition brings out the best, not the worst. That is why successful countries, not least in Eastern and Central Europe, will show the way."

Read the entire article here - >