The one bit of consolation that I have when I think of all of the useless, counterproductive red tape and the needlessly complex and high taxes we have in America is that at least Europe has it worse than we do. But a blog posting at Free2Innovate shattered that illusion.
American firms are even more concerned than their British counterparts about taxation, legislation and regulation as a constraint on their ability to innovate; and surprisingly, they are also more worried about a lack of skilled labour and getting access to finance than are British firms, a new survey says.
This posting is about a story that ran at the Management-Issues website. In that story they write:
These unexpected findings emerged from the Cambridge-MIT Institute's International Innovation Benchmarking research project, which has been quizzing 3,660 companies on both sides of the Atlantic for the past three years about what they do to make themselves innovative and how they perform as a result. They also seem to contradict a raft of research showing the U.S. to be the most competitive place in the world in which to do business.
I'd like to think I am shocked and horrified by these results, but I am not. American politics has become a foot-race toward socialism. I used to think that the Democrats were sprinting in that direction, while the Republicans are simply taking us on a gentle stroll, but the past three administrations (Bush, Clinton, Bush) have changed all of that. Both parties seem to trip over each other to prove who is more "compassionate." But like doting parents who try to show their little child constant "compassion," we have created in our society a spoiled little monster.
The Republicans try to mask it by cutting taxes, while at the same time expanding federal spending more than we saw under Clinton. But, even their tax cuts only make the tax code more complex. I am convinced that the reason that the two parties have slid into mudslinging during the past decade is that they have nothing else to talk about. They really don't differ that much on policy, so the only way to get into power is through personal attacks.
I have written over and over about the overwhelming evidence of what makes an entrepreneurial economy tick. Get government out of the way, and cut and simplify taxes. Neither major political party in America seems to have a clue that our economy is in the midst of a fundamental transition that is now being fueled by entrepreneurs and their small businesses.
Maybe it is good that next week is spring break here at Belmont University. All of this is just wearing me out......
