Wiseacre
Retired USAF Chief
What are the boundaries of economic freedom? Whatever enterprise you choose to engage in must be lawful of course, but do I or don't I have the right to pay the cheapest price I can get for my costs, including labor? If I can find someone who willingly works for a buck an hour, why should someone else, including the gov't, say that is unfair? If I can get parts and materials cheaper from foreign lands, isn't that my perogative?
Do I not have the choice of doing business overseas, which might include creating jobs somewhere else, even at the expense of jobs here? Is it my fault the business climate in other countries is better than it is here? Other countries have growing economies that will buy my stuff. If I can build it there and sell my stuff for less there than what it takes to build it here and ship it there, what's wrong with that?
Do I not have the freedom to make as much profit as I can, as long as no laws are broken? Who gets to decide how much is enough, who has that right? Change the laws if you want to, but is it my fault the laws are inadequate or fuzzy? And beware the unintended consequences of what you do; the entrepeneurs and investors that used to flock here now have other choices. Would you rather get tax revenues of 50% of a mllion dollars or 30% of 2 million?
It is no accident that those countries with the most economic freedom are also the most vibrant and growing. That doesn't mean no gov't controls and no regulation, but it does need to be cost effective and needed. Right now, gov't and business are adversaries; that is not a good idea for and economy that is struggling. Less economic freedom ain't workin'.
Do I not have the choice of doing business overseas, which might include creating jobs somewhere else, even at the expense of jobs here? Is it my fault the business climate in other countries is better than it is here? Other countries have growing economies that will buy my stuff. If I can build it there and sell my stuff for less there than what it takes to build it here and ship it there, what's wrong with that?
Do I not have the freedom to make as much profit as I can, as long as no laws are broken? Who gets to decide how much is enough, who has that right? Change the laws if you want to, but is it my fault the laws are inadequate or fuzzy? And beware the unintended consequences of what you do; the entrepeneurs and investors that used to flock here now have other choices. Would you rather get tax revenues of 50% of a mllion dollars or 30% of 2 million?
It is no accident that those countries with the most economic freedom are also the most vibrant and growing. That doesn't mean no gov't controls and no regulation, but it does need to be cost effective and needed. Right now, gov't and business are adversaries; that is not a good idea for and economy that is struggling. Less economic freedom ain't workin'.
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