Open letter to George W. Bush on the OECD blacklist
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 & 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)
