[Grovenet] Learning from Lance

[Krystof Zmudzinski]

Well, in the mid-1980s Ireland took a radical course
of slashing public expenditure, abolishing agencies
and cutting taxes and regulations. The top marginal
rate of tax was cut from 80% in 1975 to 44% in 2001.
The standard rate of income tax was reduced from 35%
in 1989 to 22% in 2001. Corporation tax was cut from
40% in 1996 to 12.5% in 2003.

Ireland is now a technologically advanced economy with
a well-educated labour force, many with experience of
working abroad. In the last decade many Irish working
overseas in the world's large high tech companies have
been persuaded to return home. 

The real attraction of Ireland is the absence of
restrictions on doing business. Employees are
relatively free to hire and fire, and social security
payments are much lower than in other EU countries. As
multinational companies have moved in and agriculture
has declined, productivity has gone through the roof.
Ironically, EU subsidies were actually holding back
this leap in productivity. 

http://www.moneyweek.com/article/905/investing/other-viewpoints/fsl-ireland.html

Krystof

--- Ron D'Eau Claire <ron at cobi.biz> wrote:

> Geri wrote:
> 
> What?!  You are giving another clue?
> 
> Of course, Katie, I was joking with Mike.  ;-)
> (We read Friedman, too.)
> 
> I think Ron was right, though, that many
> folks' first instinct would not be Ireland.
> 
> ------------------------------------------------
> 
> On a project I did for Intel, gee...four years ago
> now... I had a lot of
> interaction with the Intel people in the Republic of
> Ireland. Of course,
> they were all local Irish citizens. When I asked
> about how much "high tech"
> activity there was in Ireland the first thing they
> did was to politely
> correct me, in perfect English, explaining that it's
> correctly called
> "Poblacht na hÉireann" (which cannot be said in
> English, perfect or
> otherwise so they happily go by "Republic of
> Ireland". The important thing
> is that they be distinguished from 'Northern
> Ireland' which is part of the
> United Kingdom. 
> 
> As soon as the people there straightened me out of
> the political separation,
> they explained that the Republic of Ireland would
> become the technological
> powerhouse of Europe within five years. 
> 
> That was just about four years ago. It sounds like
> they're on track. 
> 
> In that same length of time, the USA hasn't been
> sitting around idle either.
> Let's see, we've:
> 
>  1) Trashed a whole country in the middle east.
> 
>  2) Run up a massive federal debt. 
> 
>  3) Killed tens of thousands of people and injured
> many times more - many of
> them Americans.
> 
>  4) Become one of the most feared and scorned
> countries in the world. 
> 
>  5) Continued to weaken ourselves by being totally
> dependent upon foreign
> trade to survive in a world we make increasingly
> hostile to us.
> 
> Not only does "Old Europe" have a lot of lessons for
> us, even NEW "Old
> Ireland" has a few things for us to learn too... 
> 
> Ron D'Eau Claire 
> 
> 
> 
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http://polishimmigrant.blogspot.com/

If there must be trouble let it be in my day, 
that my child may have peace.  --Thomas Paine

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