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| Re: Gary Johnson's favorite foreign leader (1396462) | |||
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Re: Gary Johnson's favorite foreign leader |
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Posted by Henry R32 #3730 on Sat Oct 1 01:59:36 2016, in response to Re: Gary Johnson's favorite foreign leader, posted by 3-9 on Fri Sep 30 23:19:38 2016. A few reasons. First is the raw economy, which developed for three reasons:1. They attracted fortune 500 companies by being a tax haven. 2. They attract companies and tourists alike by being centrally located in Asia, with English as the primary language of government and media. The next closest countries with that level of English are on the periphery of Asia, like Australia and Guam. 3. Oil. 4. Unrivaled safety. They have to post reminders periodically "low crime does not mean no crime" because so few robberies, etc. happen that people lose awareness and forget it is even possible. Security is a cost center for any business or homeowner, and not needing much of it goes a long way towards the bottom line. With a good economy, the taxes there are add up substantially. There are income tax brackets where the highest tax is 20% (22% starting next year). Then there's a gas tax, and a 7% sales tax. Also for example, they have unbelievably high taxes and fees for cars - a 10 year permit to own a car costs $60,000. This is before you even buy the car, there are import fees that basically double the sticker price. Conversely, public transit is distance based with the average trip costing around 85 US cents. The end result is, the only vehicles on the road are buses, commercial, people who drove in from Malaysia, taxis, and the 1%... They can also afford it basically because they are a tropical island slightly smaller than NYC with no recurring natural disasters to contend with, and 5.4 million people. While they do have a sizeable military, they have no need to sabre rattle so it's pretty much kept to a practical size for defending said island. There might be some other taxes hidden in there too -- stuff you need generally costs less than luxury items. For example, a small carton of orange juice cost 85 cents at 7-11, while a small bottle of soda costs $2.50 (it may have even been $3.50). |
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