U.K. Financial Sector Sheds Jobs - WSJ.com

DEMOCRACY'S QUANDARY: U.K. Financial Sector Sheds Jobs - WSJ.com

Let's see?

The government decides it knows better than the banks how they should run their business. The government decides to increase taxes on banks.

And, gee, the banks contract the number of employees they have in Britain.

The article seems to be ignoring the obvious because it might make the government look bad.

After all, in an information society where knowledge and expertise add the most value, these are also the most portable aspects of any business. Something socialists ignore at their peril.

Question: What are you advocating?

Answer:

The idea is let everyone perhaps focus on the logical implications of the policies being pursued.

Those who think that punishing business (taxes, regulations, etc.) has no impact on job creation, will dismiss the issues raised as irrelevant.

Those who understand the need to support business will recognize the stupidity of the government's policies.

But socialism is expensive and the Western democracies are unable to get a consensus about how to solve the problem.

It would seem to me that higher taxes, etc. exacerbate the problem of little or no growth - i.e. logic would say that spending capital on current consumption vs. those things that let a society grown is anti-growth.

But those whose focus is only on the here-and-now (e.g. most liberals), think all social needs have to be met without any question or limit to entitlements and that early, lush retirement and benefits is also an entitlement, etc.

It's the quandary we face in many societies.

The young have yet to realize that there is something inherently unfair for them to be asked to take reduced salaries and benefits so higher salaries and benefits can be maintained for older workers.

There was a recent article in this paper highlighting how Cameron's policies are actually allowing far to much spending to continue.

Is it a house-of-cards that will collapse on itself? History would suggest this is not an utterly remote possibility. But, then again, if you are 60 or 70, you may hope that things will hang together until you die - who cares about the aftermath.