The Madness Continues
I post comments on The Guardian's Comment is Free under the name emale. Here is my latest:http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/story/0,,1872968,00.html
Grinch said: "If it [the government] wants to charge the rich more, then it is perfectly entitled to. It's just getting the best possible price for its services. This is how capitalism works, and it's how you'd expect a capitalist state to act. So in fact progressive taxation is, ironically, a deeply capitalist idea."
In particular the phrase "It's just getting the best possible price for its services. This is how capitalism works.... " No it doesn't. Capitalism operates under the free market system which, through competition, ensures that only companies which provide their goods and services at prices acceptable to their customers remain in business. The relationship between provider (seller) and the buyer is entirely voulantary which encourages the provider to be efficient, lean and well organised. Such efficencies reduce cost which is passed on to the consumer in the form of stable prices.
The government, on the other hand takes what it wants with the threat of force, in most areas of it's activity, it does not allow competition (and therefore has no incentive to improve it's efficiency) in fact productivity in the government(public) sector is going down. This leads to increasred costs which are passed on to the consumer in the form of tax increases. Most of the increases in tax over recent years have been eroded by public sector inflation and have produced no tangible benefit to the consumer. This is why the taxpayers feels cheated.
Of course there are those who have benefited from this huge misallocation of recources. Public sector employees, who have seen their numbers increase by nearlly a million (NuLabour's payroll vote) their salaries increase far faster than the private sector, their final salary pensions protected, virtual jobs-for-life employment rights, etc. etc.
I would hazard a guess that the majority of the commentators posting here who support Polly's argument, work in the public sector. They are acting out of self interest, and have absolutely no right to complain when the taxpayer does the same. http://www.econlib.org/library/Enc/PublicChoiceTheory.html
posted by Not A. Loon @ 1:20 pm
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