17. Economic Conference
Comprehensive Economic Reforms – Lessons from History and Abroad
Roger Douglas
«Comprehensive Economic Reform»
Klaus Mackscheidt
«The Idea of a Major Tax Reform - A Labour of Love in Vain?»
«Comprehensive Economic Reform»
«The Idea of a Major Tax Reform - A Labour of Love in Vain?»
How can major political reforms be implemented when numerous interest groups are opposed to them and sabotage all plans? The question seems particularly topical today, but – as the 17th Economic Conference organised by the Progress Foundation on Thursday evening showed – it already has a long tradition. Particularly insightful answers are hoped for from personalities who have ‘been there’ at some point in their careers when major reforms were implemented. Sir Roger Douglas, the former New Zealand Finance Minister (1984 to 88), was well aware that the Zurich audience was expecting some clear prescriptions from him. In any case, his speeches were a collection of concise, dry advice, most of them two or three sentences long and so fast-paced that it was easy to lose the connection.
Speech by Klaus Mackscheidt (in German)
German economist and Professor of Economics, University of Cologne
Why is it so difficult to bring about a tax reform that deserves to be called a major reform? In most cases, a tax reform not only proves to be more or less a failure from the point of view of the critics, but even from the point of view of its creators it proves to be a piecemeal effort. This is because tax reforms so often miss their initial target and fall so far short of it that it almost seems to be the norm. Measured against the state of knowledge of what is desirable, there seem to be only small and unfinished tax reforms. At the same time, there is no lack of major efforts to break new ground. The shortcoming is not that the approach is too timid. Rather, it seems to be the case that the power of the beginning is lost in the gruelling war of implementation, leaving a reform result at the end that no longer deserves the name ‘major tax reform’.
The full text of the speech is available as a PDF here: