Monday, October 10, 2005

Ozzies get tough

Australia doesn’t want to become “another Germany”. The new measures to be introduced aim to make Australia more competitive on the world market and reduce unemployment.

Strikes may be considered illegal if they damage the economy, small business may fire employees more easily and big business will be able to sue Unions.

Kim Beasley, leader of the opposition, has vowed to fight to the end to protect the “rights of the Australian workers”. On the other hand, Peter Hendy, chairman of the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, finds the reforms “not courageous enough”.

Howard has demonstrated over and over again to be a tough cookie and the debate over these measures from now to the 2007 elections will be something worth watching.

In light of the wreckage caused by Unions in Europe, the lack of job mobility, the increased unemployment, the stifling of business innovation, I can only say: go fer it, mate!

PS: How about introducing a Flat Tax, John?

Source: Il Corriere

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2 comments:

Barak said...

Unfortunately, the numbers you link to appear to be inaccurate. Fortunately, they are highly understated. The actual numbers can be found here:

http://www.iris.org.il/blog/archives/422-IRIS-Exclusive-All-Flat-Tax-Countries-Experiencing-Explosive-Growth-Rates.html

2004 GDP growth rates there averaged a staggering 8%, well over twice the industrialized nations' average of 3.4%. Of course these flat-tax rates vary widely, from 12-33%. Among the six lowest-taxed countries, growth rates are the highest: 8.6%. The lowest-taxed three have 9.5% growth.

The TaxProf link has the additional problem of including growth results from Greece, which has not yet adopted the flat-tax. Andrew Sullivan has already updated his link (http://www.andrewsullivan.com/index.php?dish_inc=archives/2005_10_09_dish_archive.html#112897203904640342).

marlow said...

Thanks! I'll check.