Monday, January 4, 2010

Best/Worst of Times, ctd.

Yesterday I warned:
[I]f America goes down the failed road of overregulation, cronyism, nationalization and protectionism, Americans won't benefit from global innovation and development. Instead, the intense competition for capital and talent that we'll face from a gaggle of rapidly developing rivals will only serve to hasten our inevitable decline.
And, right on cue comes this little nugget straight from today's headlines:
Goldman Sachs is reviewing its London operations in a move that could lead to entire departments being shifted overseas, the Daily Telegraph newspaper reported Monday. Goldman has asked an internal team to look at various strategies following the introduction of a U.K. windfall tax on bonuses and ahead of plans to introduce a new 50% top income tax rate in April, the report said. The review is in its early stages and could also recommend making no changes, it added. One of the units likely to be reviewed is Goldman's proprietary trading arm, with Geneva seen as a likely destination for the unit because tax on performance fees can be negotiated with the Swiss government, the newspaper reported.
If only Congress were forced to name its next piece of anti-market legislation the "Singapore/Geneva/China Full Employment Act," then maybe people would finally get the picture. Alas.

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