The self-proclaimed “Robin Hood of Rock” is beginning to sound a little more like Grover Norquist than a traditional pop-culture leftist. The U2 frontman, Bono, recently praised Ireland’s extraordinarily low tax rate, while claiming that the move has brought unparalleled prosperity to the Emerald Isle. According to the UK Independent , Bono boasted about the tax-policy’s ability to bring wealth to Ireland for the first time in centuries: “We are a tiny little country, we don’t have scale, and our version of scale is to be innovative and to be clever, and tax competitiveness has brought our country the only prosperity we’ve known.” He even managed to point out that the increased economic growth has boosted social services and government functions throughout the region: Because of its generous tax allowances, he added, Ireland has reaped the benefits of “more hospitals and firemen and teachers”. And he’s quite right. In his quest to rid the world of poverty, it’s nice to see that Bono is not blinded by some sort of ideological stubbornness to “progressive” initiatives. After all, the tens of thousands of jobs that migrated to Ireland (in a quest to seek marginally more favorable tax conditions) had quite a beneficial impact on local communities, families, and anti-poverty programs. I mean, sure, seems obvious; but when billions of dollars start flooding into Ireland, it tends to help their overall economic condition. Of course, most of this is old news to economists named Art (who drew a “Laffer” curve on a cocktail napkin) and students of the Austrian school. But, it’s still pretty impressive when the self-styled “Robin Hood” of pop-culture stumbles across economic enlightenment. Increased economic activity (and by extension, economic growth) is a boost to everyone in the community. Not only are tens of thousands of people finding themselves with newfound wealth, but their newly-acquired spending habits are enriching those around them. And, regardless of their low tax rate, the government coffers are seeing an uptick in revenue, due to the velocity of money picking up in the increasingly dynamic economy. After all, we’re not just talking about Apple moving a few thousand jobs to Cork, but international giants of all industries are eyeing Ireland for their corporate headquarters. http://finance.townhall.com/columni...ontman-bono-channels-grover-norquist-n1904756 note... I have been tough in the past on Bono's leftist approach to taxes... call for more of them on the people while avoiding them yourself. This is honesty makes up for some of that.
I am still amazed at this turn around from Bono. He must really be impressed with what significantly lowering taxes has done for the Irish people.
low corporate taxes, like zero percent. High personal taxes. I own 500 companies and will gladly pay high taxes on my personal profits if you let my companies operate tax free.
let me guess ricter and convertibility think raising taxes is good for the economy and believe somehow the 2008 recession depression in the middle of the chart is a counter to the growth seen by even Bono. lets look at reality of low tax policies... Ireland was transformed from one of the poorest countries in Western Europe to one of the wealthiest. Disposable income soared to record levels, enabling a huge rise in consumer spending with foreign holidays accounting for over 91% of total holiday expenditure in 2004. However, the gap between the highest and lowest income households widened in the five-year period to 2004-2005;[33] in response, the Economic and Social Research Institute(ESRI) stated in 2002: "On balance, budgets over the past 10 to 20 years have been more favourable to high income groups than low income groups, but particularly so during periods of high growth".[34] Unemployment fell from 18% in the late 1980s to 4.5% by the end of 2007,[35] and average industrial wages grew at one of the highest rates in Europe. Inflation brushed 5% per annum towards the end of the "Tiger" period, pushing Irish prices up to those of Nordic Europe, even though wage rates are roughly the same as in the UK. The national debt had remained constant during the boom, but the GDP to debt ratio rose, due to the dramatic rise in GDP.[36] The new wealth resulted in large investments in modernising Irish infrastructure and cities. The National Development Plan led to improvements in roads, and new transport services were developed, such as the Luas light rail lines, the Dublin Port Tunnel, and the extension of the Cork Suburban Rail. Local authorities enhanced city streets and built monuments such as the Spire of Dublin.[37]