From today’s Open Europe news summary:

Meanwhile, The Guardian reported that Lodewijk Asscher, leader of the Dutch Labour party (PvdA), which is currently a partner in the ruling coalition government, has said “I propose to come to a new trade agreement with Great Britain, but only if we can agree firmly upon tackling tax avoidance and stopping the fiscal race to the bottom.”

According to the Dutch Labour party leader, when a business or individual takes legal steps to avoid taxes and/or a country decides to lower its taxes, both are engaged in a “fiscal race to the bottom”. This is the perspective of all statists; i.e., that they are entitled to our money first and any scraps we are allowed to keep should be accepted with gratitude.

Patrick Barron