This must be one of the worst election disasters ever!
April 29, 2010 • 10:21 pm 0
Brown’s going down
April 16, 2010 • 1:05 pm 1
Tea Party Rally
There was a Tea Party rally in DC today.
A few people I know was there. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to join them.
Shame. It would have been a very good experience.
Filed under: Freedom & Liberty, Tea Party rally
April 14, 2010 • 11:00 pm 0
Cheaper iPads and Nike Shoes!!!
The campaign below was part of my think tank MBA project. I am no longer doing this.
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I was in Washington DC last week and was shocked to see that prices of items there are more expensive than in Virginia, which is just a short drive away (I am in Virginia now). Washington DC imposes a higher sales tax than in Virginia, resulting in higher prices for us, consumers.
A friend was on vacation in Delaware not long ago and he told me prices there are even cheaper than both Washington DC and Virginia because there is NO SALES TAX there!
Please have a look at the attached file.
An iPad in DC costs US$529, but only US$519 in Virgina and US$499 in Delaware. Sales Tax in DC makes an iPad more expensive for consumers.
A pair of Nike Air shoes in DC costs US$196, but only US$192 in Virginia and US$182 in Delaware. Again, Sales Tax in DC makes them more expensive.
But Washington DC is where many people live and they want to buy things without having to drive 3 hours to Delaware. Why should they be penalized for living, working or just visiting the nation’s capital?
So a group of friends and I have started a campaign to call for a lower sales tax in DC.
If you believe you deserve a lower sales tax and cheaper items, please sign our petition: http://www.petitiononline.com/mod_perl/signed.cgi?lowtaxDC
Join our Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lower-Tax-in-DC/117344998282973
Visit our website: http://lowtaxdc.wordpress.com/petition/
Join us in this campaign to lower sales tax in DC. A lower sales tax benefits everyone. We need your help to make prices in DC cheaper. Lower tax is good for us because it means we can save our money for other items. Lower tax is good for DC too because it will enable DC to attract more consumers therefore boosting its economy.
To support the campaign for wider tax reform, visit: http://www.atr.org/
Filed under: Freedom & Liberty, iPads, Nike shooes, Tax Freedom
April 14, 2010 • 1:07 pm 0
Remembering Watergate scandal
I read about the Watergate Scandal – the scandal that ended Nixon’s presidency – many many years ago. Well, this evening I had the pleasure of having dinner at one of the penthouses in the Watergate Complex. The view from the top floor is simply breathtaking.
Rooftop of Watergate East. To the right is famous office complex.
Gossip of the night: Monica Lewinsky lived in the building to the left.
Filed under: Personal
April 12, 2010 • 2:55 am 2
Capitalist vs Socialist, and Maslow’s Hierarchy
How come left-leaning (read: socialist) organisations are usually more successful than free-market ones? In our discussion today, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs was suggested as one way to answer the question.
Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs
Left-leaning organisations focus more on issues at the bottom of the hiearchy. For example, they talk about eradicating poverty which falls into the very base of Maslow’s triangle (physiological needs).
On the other hand, many free-market organisations folow the Hayek-Fisher tradition and deal with mainly intellectual issues, which is right at the top of Maslow’s hierarchy.
As a result, socialists get a much wider audience whereas we capitalists attract relatively much smaller number.
Solution: try to talk more about how market ideas can fulfill the basic needs.
Filed under: Freedom & Liberty
April 11, 2010 • 11:12 am 0
What am I? by John Stossel
John Stossel briefly touches on why it is not ‘cruel’ to say that the government should not provide welfare (because the government creates more problem when they try to do it)
Filed under: Personal
April 10, 2010 • 11:11 am 0
Of consumption tax (read GST if in Malaysia)
While thinking about whether or not to buy an iPad today, I realised that I wasn’t just thinking about whether or not to buy, but also where to buy.
The question that came to my head was, “since I will be traveling to Virginia, Washington DC and Florida, where will be the cheapest place to buy one, if I decided to go ahead and buy?”.
Prices here vary because different states have different rates for sales tax. That is one benefit of fiscal decentralisation – states can compete to attract consumers.
Malaysian states should demand this right in the debate about GST.
April 2, 2010 • 3:42 pm 0
MalaysiaKini TV
I was interviewed by Malaysiakini TV earlier today about the New Economic Model. Others on the panel were Richard Yeoh (REFSA) and Akhramsyah Sanusi (MAYC). It should be available for viewing early next week.
I was pushing the view that the NEM is a good start. It is committed to initiate a liberalising process of Malaysia’s economy. But it stopped short of being fully committed to a liberal economic agenda. For example, while the NEM document said it is bad for government to crowd the market by having government linked companies (GLCs), the only effort to rectify the problem is by selling of government’s stakes in a small number / selected GLCs. But the real problem is the very existence of GLCs. The problem is not just the companies that have been selected to be divested, but the likes of Petronas, Khazanah, TNB, TM, etc.
I got a bit stuck when asked should the government help the poor. I have no doubt that the government SHOULD NOT get involved in providing welfare. Looking at Malaysia’s experience, when the government tries to deliver welfare, it quickly became selective and political. But I do not yet know how that could be stopped in Malaysia. I know the principle, but I don’t yet know the “how”.
Filed under: Malaysia
April 2, 2010 • 3:26 pm 0
Legasi Frederic Bastiat
There is a video on www.AkademiMerdeka.org discussing a lesson from Frederic Bastiat with comments Dr Tom Palmer. Check out this link: http://akademimerdeka.org/2010/04/02/disastrous-economic-fallacies-terror-as-stimulus/
And, Noor Amin Ahmad has written a beautiful essay in Malay about Bastiat’s legacy, which can be accessed here: http://akademimerdeka.org/2010/04/02/bastiat-apa-yang-boleh-kita-belajar-dari-dia/
Filed under: Personal
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