Tuesday 24 February 2009

Wealth of the nation

I'm having trouble linking to the precise quote in today's Scotsman but columnist Hamish Macdonnell wrote this:
But it does illustrate a wider point, and that is the core economic and political issue of who is best placed to decide how money is spent - the government or the people.
Oh dear. Can anyone really think that?

The core issue in politics may well be about who spends the wealth - the producers or the looters. But the core issue in economics is how is wealth created in the first place. That comes prior to how it is spent. And if too much of it is spent by the looters there soon won't be any wealth left.

1 comment:

David Farrer said...

Comment made on previous template:

Colin Finlay
It's not as if British officialdom isnt aware of the benefits of low taxation. Hong Kong prospered for many colonial years under a 15% flat rate of personal income tax and Bermuda, whose sensible populace voted against independence from Britain in the last referendum continues to enjoy the unalloyed benefits of the Laffer Curve's practical application as, of course, do Jersey, Cayman Islands et al.

24 March 2009, 08:58:42 GMT