Dan McLaughlin

Voices For Freedom Read Columns Daniel McLaughlin
To Home Page Latest Newsletter Column Archives Click to get these columns for your local paper	© 2006 Daniel J. McLaughlin Turning The Tables Most of us belong to some type of group, whether it is for social, church, professional or hobby related activities. In order for the organization to continue and to thrive and prosper over time, the members need to feel a part of the group. They need to feel welcome, they need to be included, but most of all, they need to get what they came for. Imagine you join an organization for a particular purpose, fully expecting to gain the benefits of belonging to the group. When you get there, someone says “Welcome” and then slaps you in the face. Someone else says “Great to have you with us” and then stomps on your toe. Still someone else tells you “Thanks for coming” and then punches you in the gut. As you take your seat, a leader gets up, says “Welcome” and then blames you for all of the problems of the organization. It is very likely that you would withdraw from membership and tell everyone you know about your experience. Now, imagine you are a business owner. A country, a state or a city encourages you to establish your business there. They are looking for new business to support the economy and you are looking for a place to make a profit. It seems like a win-win situation. They say “Welcome” and then slap you in the face with fees and months or years of busywork and bureaucratic hoops to jump through. They say “So nice to have you with us”, then they punch you in the gut with taxes, regulations and intimidation that knock the wind out of your profits. They say “Whatever we can do to help” and then stomp on your toes by discouraging your customers with sales taxes, bed taxes, gross receipts taxes, and surcharges. A leader stands up and says “Glad you could join us” and then blames you for all the problems that he himself created. You would very likely think twice about your decision and start looking for the exit. There is a growing concern that American businesses are becoming uncompetitive. Good businesses, especially high value and high tech companies, are taking their marbles to find a different game where they will be welcome and treated fairly. When they leave, they take their good jobs with them. While that is an over-simplification, it describes a phenomenon much talked about. Federal, state and local governments never seem to run out of creative ways to burden and abuse their citizens. The heavier the burden imposed by government, the more the citizens are encouraged to leave town. The laws of economics have not changed, in spite of what influential economists try to propose with complex studies and convoluted theories. A society of free people in free exchange without interference from government will always prosper to a higher degree than those oppressed by overbearing rulers. International trade that takes advantage of division of labor and comparative advantage can only make the participants better off, unless government interferes with taxes, tariffs, quotas, or other forms of tampering. Business competitiveness is a very different issue than whether free trade is beneficial. If people trade with anyone because they can buy it cheaper than they can make it, they will always be better off. Business that can lower costs from free trade will be more profitable because of it. A business that is made uncompetitive by government imposition is likely to wither and will fail or look for greener pastures. The mistakes that our governments are making now are not new or novel. They are the same mistakes that governments made through the centuries. The effects of those mistakes are just as apparent now as they always have been to those who choose to see. If America is becoming uncompetitive, it is because we are reversing the process that made us prosper. The burdens of taxes and regulation we bear are the same as the burdens laid by the kings and tyrants of any other era or location, as are the results. The tables do seem to be turning. It is our own leaders who are turning them against us. As they make our business community less competitive, they invite that business to find a better home overseas. It is never too late to turn back. But we can only turn the tables back in our favor if we return to the freedom that made us great, the freedom which our young soldiers are told they are dying for.
Contact us Privacy Policy
Daniel Mclaughlin Copyright © 2006 [Daniel McLaughlin]. All rights reserved. Revised: 03/18/08

Voices For Freedom

Read Columns

Daniel McLaughlin

To Home Page

Latest Newsletter

Column Archives

Click to get these columns for your local paper

Turning The Tables

Most of us belong to some type of group, whether it is for social, church, professional or hobby related activities. In order for the organization to continue and to thrive and prosper over time, the members need to feel a part of the group. They need to feel welcome, they need to be included, but most of all, they need to get what they came for.

Imagine you join an organization for a particular purpose, fully expecting to gain the benefits of belonging to the group. When you get there, someone says “Welcome” and then slaps you in the face. Someone else says “Great to have you with us” and then stomps on your toe. Still someone else tells you “Thanks for coming” and then punches you in the gut. As you take your seat, a leader gets up, says “Welcome” and then blames you for all of the problems of the organization.

It is very likely that you would withdraw from membership and tell everyone you know about your experience.

Now, imagine you are a business owner. A country, a state or a city encourages you to establish your business there. They are looking for new business to support the economy and you are looking for a place to make a profit. It seems like a win-win situation.

They say “Welcome” and then slap you in the face with fees and months or years of busywork and bureaucratic hoops to jump through. They say “So nice to have you with us”, then they punch you in the gut with taxes, regulations and intimidation that knock the wind out of your profits. They say “Whatever we can do to help” and then stomp on your toes by discouraging your customers with sales taxes, bed taxes, gross receipts taxes, and surcharges. A leader stands up and says “Glad you could join us” and then blames you for all the problems that he himself created.

You would very likely think twice about your decision and start looking for the exit.

There is a growing concern that American businesses are becoming uncompetitive. Good businesses, especially high value and high tech companies, are taking their marbles to find a different game where they will be welcome and treated fairly. When they leave, they take their good jobs with them.

While that is an over-simplification, it describes a phenomenon much talked about. Federal, state and local governments never seem to run out of creative ways to burden and abuse their citizens. The heavier the burden imposed by government, the more the citizens are encouraged to leave town.

The laws of economics have not changed, in spite of what influential economists try to propose with complex studies and convoluted theories. A society of free people in free exchange without interference from government will always prosper to a higher degree than those oppressed by overbearing rulers. International trade that takes advantage of division of labor and comparative advantage can only make the participants better off, unless government interferes with taxes, tariffs, quotas, or other forms of tampering.

Business competitiveness is a very different issue than whether free trade is beneficial. If people trade with anyone because they can buy it cheaper than they can make it, they will always be better off. Business that can lower costs from free trade will be more profitable because of it. A business that is made uncompetitive by government imposition is likely to wither and will fail or look for greener pastures.

The mistakes that our governments are making now are not new or novel. They are the same mistakes that governments made through the centuries. The effects of those mistakes are just as apparent now as they always have been to those who choose to see.

If America is becoming uncompetitive, it is because we are reversing the process that made us prosper. The burdens of taxes and regulation we bear are the same as the burdens laid by the kings and tyrants of any other era or location, as are the results.

The tables do seem to be turning. It is our own leaders who are turning them against us. As they make our business community less competitive, they invite that business to find a better home overseas.

It is never too late to turn back. But we can only turn the tables back in our favor if we return to the freedom that made us great, the freedom which our young soldiers are told they are dying for.

Hit Counter