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The Road to Serfdom
 This
masterpiece of Nobel
Prize laureate Friedrich
Hayek is an eye-opener, strongly advocating the free market
principles. In this all-time classic Hayek persuasively warns against
the authoritarian utopias of central planning and the welfare state.
Fascism, communism and socialism share these utopias. For the
implementation of their plans these authoritarian ideologies require
government power over the individual, inevitably leading to a
totalitarian state. Every step away from the free market toward
planning reduces people's freedom and is a step toward tyranny.
Planning also cannot assess consumer preferences with sufficient
accuracy to efficiently co-ordinate production. In a free market
"Price" is the all-inclusive source of information, guiding
entrepreneurs to produce whatever is wanted and directing workers
wherever they are most needed. Free markets also provide the
entrepreneurial climate for a thriving economy and for releasing the
creative energy of its citizens. Free individuals in their native
endeavour to develop their talents and their eternal pursuit of better
living conditions produce spontaneous progress.
All public interference in the economic process disturbs the market
equilibrium, distorts the optimal allocation of resources and
consequently reduces the level of wealth. Where planning replaces free
markets people do not only loose their freedom and individuality.
Resulting slow growth also increases welfare demands causing dependence
similar to slavery. In the end people's self-reliance and self-respect
is ruined, and citizens are degraded to a means to serve the ends of
the collective mass.
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May 31, 2001
The Honorable George W. Bush
President
The United States of America
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, DC 20500 |
Dear President Bush,
We, the undersigned economists, urge you
to reject the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development's
so-called "harmful tax competition" initiative. According to the OECD,
it is unfair for low-tax countries to attract jobs, capital and
entrepreneurial talent away from high-tax countries. To stop this
process, the Paris-based bureaucracy is threatening low-tax nations
with financial protectionism unless they change their tax and privacy
laws so that high-tax nations can more easily double-tax income that is
saved and invested - even when that income is earned in other nations.
This is a completely misguided
initiative. Tax competition is a liberalizing force in the world
economy, something that should be celebrated rather than persecuted. It
forces governments to be more fiscally responsible lest they drive
economic activity to lower-tax environments. Other reasons for our
opposition include:
* The OECD seeks to create a tax cartel - Consumers
benefit and the economy is more efficient when gas stations, banks, pet
stores, and car companies compete. The same thing is true for
government. Competition promotes efficiency and encourages lawmakers to
rationalize public finance.
* The OECD is threatening global commerce -
Protectionism is a bad idea, and it is a really bad idea when the goal
is to interfere with international capital flows. The OECD effort is
akin to a high-tax state like California trying to block investment
dollars from flowing to a low-tax state like Nevada.
* The OECD proposal will boost the underground
economy - Instead of propping up uncompetitive tax systems,
criminalizing tax competition will simply drive taxpayers into the
informal economy. A low tax burden, by contrast, will reduce incentives
to hide, shelter, and under-report income.
* The OECD is defending bad tax policy - In order to
minimize tax-induced distortions, the tax code should neither subsidize
nor penalize different activities. Yet the OECD initiative is driven by
a desire to help high-tax nations double-tax income that is saved and
invested.
* The OECD will hurt growth in less-developed
nations - Penalizing countries for adopting market-friendly tax systems
will hinder economic reform and reduce growth rates in the developing
world. This may even cause more crime since opportunities for honest
employment will shrink.
Mr. President, we ask again that you stop the
OECD's ill-conceived project. As the world's largest economy and single
largest contributor to the OECD's budget, the United States has the
ability to pull the plug on this unwise proposal.
Sincerely,
Milton Friedman
Nobel Laureate
Hoover Institute
Jim Buchanan
Nobel Laureate
George Mason University
William R. Allen
University of California, Los Angeles
Charles Calomiris
Columbia University
Kenneth W. Clarkson
University of Miami
Veronique de Rugy
George Mason University
Nicholas Economides
NYU & Stanford
John C. Goodman
National Center of Policy Analysis
Randall G. Holcombe
Florida State University
Michael C. Jensen
Harvard Business School
Deepak Lal
UCLA
Bennett T. McCallum
Carnegie Mellon University
Deirdre McCloskey
University of Illinois at Chicago
David I. Meiselman
Virginia Tech
Allan Meltzer
Carnegie Mellon University
James C. Miller III
Citizens for a Sound Economy
Daniel Mitchell
Heritage Foundation
Bill Niskanen
Cato Institute
Richard Schmalensee
MIT
Brian S. Wesbury
Griffin, Kubik, Stephens & Thompson, Inc.
James C.W. Ahiakpor
California State University (Hayward)
Ryan C. Amacher
University of Texas at Arlington
Robert V. Andelson
Great Barrington, MA
Mohamed Ariff
Malaysian Institute of Economic Research (MIER)
Scott Arnold
University of Alabama at Birmingham
Andrew Atkeson
UCLA
Charles W. Baird
California State University
Doug Bandow
Cato Institute
William Barnett II
Loyola University New Orleans
Naomi Lopez Bauman
San Francisco, CA
William W. Beach
The Heritage Foundation
James T. Bennett
George Mason University
John Berthoud
Adjunct Lecturer, George Washington University
George Bittlingmayer
University of Kansas
Donald R. Booth
Chapman University
Nancy Bord
Former Visiting Scholar The Hoover Institution
Mike Bordo
Rutgers University
Samuel Bostaph
University of Dallas
Michael W. Brandl
The University of Texas at Austin
Wayne T. Brough
Citizens for a Sound Economy
Andrzej Brzeski
University of California, Davis
Steven Buccola
Oregon State University
M. Northrup Buechner
St. John's University
David Burton
The Prosperity Institute
W. V. Bussmann
DaimlerChrysler
F. Patricia Callahan
American Association of Small Property Owners
Noel D. Campbell
North Georgia College & State University
Bhagwan Chowdhry
The Anderson School at UCLA
Paul A. Cleveland
Birmingham-Southern College
John P. Cochran
Metropolitan State College of Denver
Boyd Collier
Tarleton State University
Paul Combs
Appalachian Regional Development Institute
Roy E. Cordato
The John Locke Foundation
Wendell Cox
Wendell Cox Consultancy
Christine G. Crafton
Washington, DC
Carl J. Dahlman
RAND Corp.
Ronnie H. Davis
Printing Industries of America
Gregory J. Delemeester
Marietta College
Arthur De Vany
University of California
Arthur M. Diamond, Jr.
University of Nebraska at Omaha
Thomas J. DiLorenzo
Loyola College in Maryland
Jeffrey H. Dorfman
University of Georgia
Gerald P. Dwyer, Jr.
Atlanta, GA
Frank Edwards
Columbia University
Robert B. Ekelund, Jr.
Auburn University
Kenneth G. Elzinga
University of Virginia
Paul Evans
Ohio State University
Frank Falero
Springville, CA
Allen M. Featherstone
Kansas State University
Edgar R. Fiedler
Economist
Arthur A Fleisher III
Metropolitan State College of Denver
Fred Foldvary
Santa Clara University
William F Ford
Middle Tenn. State Univ.
Andrew W. Foshee
McNeese State University
Steven B. Frates
Claremont McKenna College
Robert Fry
Washington, WV
Georgy Ganev
Centre for Liberal Strategies (Bulgaria)
S D Garthoff
The University of Akron
Gerald T. Garvey
Claremont Graduate University
James F. Gatti
University of Vermont
Rick Geddes
Fordham University
Robert Genetski
GenetskiFinancialAdvisors.com
Paul Georgia
Competitive Enterprise Institute
Herbert Giersch
Kiel (Germany) Institute of World Economics
Micha Gisser
The University of New Mexico
Richard L. Gordon
Pennsylvania State University
Tim Groseclose,
Stanford University
Gerald Gunderson
Hartford, CT
David D. Haddock
Northwestern University
Dennis Halcoussis
California State University, Northridge
Gordon Hanka
Penn State University
John R. Hanson II
Texas A and M University
Robert Harding
California State University, Northridge
James E. Hartley
Mount Holyoke College
Frank Hefner
College of Charleston
Robert Herren
North Dakota State University
Robert Higgs
The Independent Institute
Robert J. Hodrick
Columbia University
Kevin D. Hoover
University of California
Larry Hunter
Empower America
John D. Jackson
Auburn University
Stephen Jackstadt
University of Alaska Anchorage
Raymond J. Keating
Small Business Survival Committee
Roger L Kerr
New Zealand Business Roundtable
E. Han Kim
University of Michigan Business School
Daniel B. Klein
Santa Clara University
Thomas J. Kniesner
Syracuse University
Robert Krol
California State University, Northridge
David N. Laband
Auburn University
Michael Darren LaFaive
Mackinac Center for Public Policy
Robert A. Lawson
Capital University
John Leeth
Bentley College
Pierre Lemieux
Université du Québec à Hull
Mickey D. Levy
Banc of America Securities
Dean R. Lillard
Cornell University
Jody W. Lipford
Presbyterian College
Dennis E. Logue
Tuck School, Dartmouth College
Roderick T. Long
Auburn University
Edward J. Lopez
University of North Texas
James R. Lothian
Fordham University
Alfred Lubell
SUNY Oneonta
Tibor R. Machan
Chapman University
Doug MacKenzie
Kean University
Burton Malkiel
Princeton University
Yuri N. Maltsev
Carthage College
Michael L. Marlow
California Polytechnic State University
Jim Martin
60 Plus Association
John Mathys
De Paul University
John G. Matsusaka
University of Chicago
Fred S. McChesney
Northwestern. University
John McClaughry
Ethan Allen institute
Gerrit Meijer
University Maastricht
Michael Melvin
Arizona State University
Lloyd J. Mercer
University of California, Santa Barbara
John Merrifield
University of Texas - San Antonio
Roger E. Michener
Michener Law Firm, LLC
Tracy Miller
Grove City College
Jeffrey Milyo
University of Chicago
Carlisle E. Moody
College of William and Mary
Michael A. Morrisey
University of Alabama at Birmingham
Jennifer Roback Morse
Stanford University
George R. Neumann
University of Iowa
William Orzechowski
Orzechowski and Walker,
Gary J. Palmer
Alabama Policy Institute
Harry Papasotiriou
Society for Social and Economic Studies (Greece)
Duane Parde
American Legislative Exchange Council
E. C. Pasour, Jr.
N.C. State University
Ellen Frankel Paul
Bowling Green State University
William S. Peirce
Case Western Reserve University
Mark J. Perry
University of Michigan-Flint
Tomas Philipson
Bruce D. Phillips
National Federation of Independent Business Education Foundation
Charles R. Plott
California Institute of Technology
Barry W. Poulson
University of Colorado
Edward C. Prescott
University of Minnesota
Miroslav Prokopijevic
Institute for European Studies, Belgrade
Jan S. Prybyla
The Pennsylvania State University
Richard Rahn
Discovery Institute
Carmen M. Reinhart
University of Maryland
Morgan Reynolds
Texas A&M University
Aldona Robbins
Fiscal Associates
Gary Robbins
Fiscal Associates
Colin Robinson
University of Surrey, Guildford, UK
Richard Roll
University of California, Los Angeles
David C. Rose
University of Missouri - St. Louis
Robert J. Rossana
Wayne State University
Gabriel Roth
Chevy Chase, MD
Ronald D. Rotunda
The University of Illinois College of Law
Charles K. Rowley
George Mason University
Paul H. Rubin
Emory University
Roy Ruffin
University of Houston
Richard Saba
Auburn University
Joseph T. Salerno
Pace University
Michael Saliba,
Loyola University New Orleans
Tom Schatz
Citizens Against Government Waste
Aaron Schavey
Heritage Foundation
Gerald W. Scully
University of Texas at Dallas
Larry J. Sechrest
Sul Ross State University
Howard Segermark
President, Segermark Associates
Alan C. Shapiro
University of Southern California
Stephen Shmanske
California State University, Hayward
William F. Shughart II
The University of Mississippi
S. Fred Singer
The Science & Environmental Policy Project
Fred L. Smith, Jr.
Competitive Enterprise Institute
Russell S. Sobel
West Virginia University
Stan Spurlock
Mississippi State University
J. E. R. Staddon
Duke University
E. Frank Stephenson
Berry College
Alan C. Stockman
University of Rochester
Courtenay C. Stone
Ball State University
Shirley Svorny
California State University, Northridge
Michael P. Sweeney
Hillsdale College
Alexander Tabarrok
The Independent Institute
Thomas L. Tacker
Emry-Riddle Aeronautical University
David J. Theroux
The Independent Institute
Clifford F. Thies
Shenandoah University
Henry Thompson
Auburn University
Richard H. Timberlake Jr.
University of Georgia
Richard Vedder
Ohio University
George J. Viksnins
Georgetown University
H. D. Vinod
Fordham University
Richard E. Wagner
George Mason University
John T. Wenders
University of Idaho
Christopher Westley
Jacksonville State University
Robert Whaples
Wake Forest University
James B Whisker
West Virginia University
Bryce Wilkinson
Capital Economics Limited (New Zealand)
Gary Wolfram
Hillsdale College
Thomas L. Wyrick
Southwest Missouri State University
Kate Zhou
University of Hawaii
Benjamin Zycher
Pacific Research Institute
Meir Zylberberg
Fundacion Libre (Argentina)
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