Bishop Hill Monbiot on corporate welfare
Sep 30, 2008 Politicians George Monbiot has a rather-less-moonbatty-than-usual article in the Guardian this morning. Entitled "The free market preachers have long practised state welfare for the rich", it's actually more an attack on corporate welfare per se than on the people who support it. In fact the headline writer seems not to have read the article at all, because Monbiot spends quite a lot of time quoting approvingly from a report by the Cato Institute, who are nothing if not arch free marketeers.
It's not often I find myself agreeing with Monbiot, but he has a point. There is absolutely no excuse for subsidising business, whether through direct payments, or through carefully constructed tax loopholes. He's not presenting any solutions in his article though - he's just railing at the problem, and I wonder if this is because the solutions are unpalatable to him.
I've put forward the idea before that we could have a law that made payments to corporate bodies illegal, except in fair payment for goods or services received. That would draw in all the subsidies to lobbyists, companies, NGOs, trades unions and all the horrible regiment of wheedling crooks that beset the political system. Of course, it will never happen because the big political parties are all in hock to these crooks, but in essence it's a simple solution to a complex problem.
Corporate tax dodges are also easily avoided, by simple means of abolishing corporate tax (or at the very least making them flat), but I can't see Monbiot going for that either. He doesn't care how low your salary is - if you are putting something away in your pension then you have to pay tax on it at corporate level.
You can't help feeling that George is actually quite happy with the idea of corporate welfare - it gives him something to rail at and stops him having to deal with the consequences of solving the problem.
Reader Comments (3)
You wrote "Of course, it will never happen because the big political parties are all in hock to these crooks" -so I take it you are in favour of state funding of political parties and electoral reform to reenfranchise the electorate?
"Corporate tax dodges are also easily avoided, by simple means of abolishing corporate tax (or at the very least making them flat)"
- How would this help, besides distorting taxes and destroying entrepeneurialism? Flat taxes are grossly unfair, which is why they are almost unheard of in Western society!
"it gives him something to rail at and stops him having to deal with the consequences of solving the problem"
- if you read Monbiot regularly you would be aware that he clearly and consistantly advocates solutions to market failure.
http://www.monbiot.com/archives/category/economic-justice/
Please pay particular attention to this article as it is targeted at your ilk:
http://www.monbiot.com/archives/2007/10/23/libertarians-are-the-true-social-parasites/
You say I have misrepresented Monbiot, but don't explain how. Is this just venting on your part?
No, I don't support taxpayer funded political parties. I support political parties which are so limited in what they can do as to make funding them a waste of time for corporate bodies or individuals.
How is abolishing corporate taxes a distortion of the tax system? It would remove an element of double taxation. Dividend income would still be taxable in the hands of individuals.
I said George had not indicated potential solutions to the problem of politicians being bought. Pointing me to his articles on "economic justice" doesn't help. If you can point me to where he explains how to stop political parties being run by corporate bodies, I'd be interested.
There is no difference between a tax credit for a benefit hoarder and the closed shop practices such as the best practice standards that big corps use to ensure only they are able to take government contracts.
The problem for the likes of Moonbat is that they already have a chip on their shoulder because they were not born rich enough to not be able to worry about money like the rest of us - hence the vilification of profits etc
Hopefully global warming will freeze him in his hideaway in Mid Wales this winter!