State – Business Alliances

STATE BUSINESS ALLIANCES

Forms of subsidy to companies that engage in international trade produces multipliers. The math has been done. That’s why it continues. In fact, throughout history, the state-biz partnership in international trade has been a requirement at worst, and the central source of economic competition at best.

The problem with state-business relations occurs when:

(a) consumers have no standing in court against violations of reciprocity in the domestic market, and

(b) politicians grant rights and privileges in the domestic market

(c) when zombie (dead) corporations are kept alive for political reasons.

In the american case, corporations pay the highest taxes in the world. But our total tax rate is relatively low. Most advanced countries ( meaning those with audit-able financial systems) use VAT tax increases to offset corporate taxes. But you can easily see where that goes….

Libertarianism benefits from a little knowledge of economics, with a heavy dose of obscurantist moralizing. A little knowledge is a dangerous thing. And that is why there are many passionate libertarians, and only a half dozen libertarian ‘intellectuals’. Its because once you possess more than a little knowledge you either choose conservatism (long term and eugenic) or social democracy (short term and dysgenic).