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Politics in the UK

Taxation: The greatest threat to freedom

Taxation in itself is of little significance when it comes to issues of liberty. Taxation is only of significance to the individual if it is applied in an inequitable manner, or if there are sudden and dramatic changes in tax rate, after all, wealth is a measured comparatively. A flat 20% decrease in taxation would do little more than trigger inflation and an even larger balance of payments deficit, the net result of which would probably be negligible to most people. Theoretically taxation is an affront to liberty, but in practice it usually has little long-term effect on the position of the majority. In the UK increased taxes are a product of the absurd economic policies pursued by the current government ('current government' or 'this government' in this piece refers to New Labour since 1997). These economic policies are the real danger to the British people.

The current British government have built into the economy a major structural flaw. This can be seen virtually from the outset of the current government by Gordon Brown's boast at the Labour Party Conference in 1998, that he had, "brought an end to boom and bust". Now, in an unmanaged economy that is simply not possible, cyclical fluctuations of the economy are perfectly natural. The only way to even attempt to bring, "an end to boom and bust" is to try and micro-manage the economy. This is what New Labour have tried to do. The need for 'control' over the economy and increased taxation have gone hand in hand. Once this 'control' seemed to be working on the economy, it was logical (for them) to try and extend it into other aspects of society.

If you look back at the economic policies of the current government, then they are pretty straightforward. Economic success has been built primarily upon domestic consumer spending (look at the UK's Balance of Trade trend for evidence that it's not built upon investment). More than that though, it has been built upon encouraging artificial levels of consumer spending. Consumer debt in the UK is at record levels, fuelled by low-interest rates and lax legislation designed to encourage borrowing, and thus, higher levels of consumer spending.
This 'policy' is in effect a house of cards built entirely upon low interest rates. The pre-requisite for low interest rates is low inflation. This effectively removes the ability of the 'Independent' Bank of England to control inflation via interest rates. If they raise interest rates then you pretty much immediately have


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