Comments | fpb: Great minds think alike?

fpb

Great minds think alike?

Oct 10, 2004 13:33

Certainly some minds do, although I am not sure whether I would characterize them as great. In order not to raise national taxes, Messrs. Blair and Brown have stealthily caused local taxes (based on property value) to grow by as much as 300%. And now news comes from Italy that Mr.Berlusconi and his unlovely government, who claim to be cutting ( Read more... )

tax, italian politics, berlusconi, british politics

Comments 13

anonymous October 11 2004, 14:26:56 UTC

1. Local taxes are set by local government, i.e. councils not by central government (i.e. Tony Blair).

2. Local councils were actually placed under a cap by the Local Government Minister, Nick Raynford at the beginning of this year, by which they are not to raise council tax.

3. The reason for increases in local taxation in Britain is to fund PFI schemes (i.e. schemes by which communities are provided with better streetlights, social housing, roads and schools). The process was instigated by the Tories in 1992. Blair merely inherited it.

4. People want local infrastructure.

5. People do not want increased income tax levels.

6. Making local councils responsible for their own investment theoretically gives them the opportunity to develop infrastructure according to the specific means of their community. It has resulted in new schools being created faster than under the central government regime.

7. If you don't like increased local taxes, then how do you propose that infrastructure is funded?

fpb October 11 2004, 15:13:39 UTC

This is refreshing. The gutless anonymous response employed, this time, not to smear me but to defend the politically indefensible. One thing I never thought to meet on LJ is someone who takes the corrupt crew of hacks who pass for a Labour Party seriously ( ... )

You're Wrong - Part 1 anonymous October 13 2004, 04:32:29 UTC

Delete this if you want, but you're wrong and as a public policy analyst at the London School of Economics, it's my duty to correct you (even a self-educated man must accept a little help now and again ( ... )

You're wrong anonymous October 13 2004, 04:33:14 UTC

4) PFI is actually risky for private contractors. Open a newspaper and read about what happened to Jarvis. To a certain extent, they actually undervalue the pricing of their contracts, but in any event are taking a long-term risk as to their ability to perform. PFI operates by allowing them a profit to the extent that they manage that risk and the underlying ethos is that the private sector is in a better position to so manage (which is pretty much a given if you compare like to like performance over the last 30 years ( ... )

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