The Costs of Regulation and Bureaucratic Interference
More Burdens on UK Business
The City Comment section of the "Daily Telegraph" (see here) talks about the latest European Union directives from Brussels and also recent actions of the UK Financial Services Authority ("Brussels Has a Mania For Rules That Creates a Climate of Fear").
Firstly, the EU Gender Discrimination Directive. One of the main lunacies in the original draft was the demand that insurance premiums must be the same for men and women. Now, the reason why rates differ between men and women is that the objective, statistical data shows that men and women have different mortality and sickness rates and also different experience with things like motor insurance (generally, women are better risks and so get better rates). This is objective reality. The bureaucrats, however, seem to think they can defy reality! They can't however, and the end result of fantasy-based directives is the crippling and ultimate destruction of business and prosperity. The directive has been modified but yet another layer of compliance and red tape has been added.
The second part of the article talks about the Insurance Mediation Directive. The problem, however, is that the Directive is so poorly worded that it's almost impossible to comply with.
"Comply with what, exactly? The directive is riddled with inconsistencies: the travel agent can sell you insurance against cancelling your holiday, but not an annual policy. The nice salesman from Dixons can sell you an extended warranty, because that's not insurance, is it?"
As a result of the uncertainty over the Directive, companies are forced to be extremely cautious about what they do.
In "Atlas Shrugged" there is a section where Hank Rearden points out that it's impossible to comply with a particular Directive. Whatever any businessman does, he will be "breaking the law". The sinister bureaucrat he is dealing with points out that is exactly the situation they want! Under those circumstances, business is completely at the mercy of the bureaucrats and their whims.
Whether or not this is the explicit aim, the end result is the same. The crippling of business and the consequent impact on prosperity. It's no coincidence that the core European economies are struggling, as this comment from a recent survey in the "Economist" makes clear:
"In Germany, France and Italy....unemployment is now hovering around 10% and public finances are in a mess. Germany in particular has had a grim few years: since 1996, it has averaged growth of just 1.3% a year. In fact, western Europe's economic miracle ended a long time ago. Average income levels, having risen to 70% of America's in the early 1970s, have been stuck there ever since and are now declining in relative terms."
While we are on the topic of European lunacy, I was stunned by this article today from the "Sydney Morning Herald" - "Sweden debates hitting men with domestic violence tax" (see here). This is beyond mere bureaucratic folly. This is pure evil. It reminds me of the collective responsibility doctrine usually associated with Nazi reprisals against civilians. Who will be next?
Now, I'm not making light of the issue of domestic violence. However, protection of women in the home is no different from the protection of all citizens from violence against their person. This is another example of how radical feminism has become simply another part of the general collectivist assault on individual liberty and prosperity.
The City Comment section of the "Daily Telegraph" (see here) talks about the latest European Union directives from Brussels and also recent actions of the UK Financial Services Authority ("Brussels Has a Mania For Rules That Creates a Climate of Fear").
Firstly, the EU Gender Discrimination Directive. One of the main lunacies in the original draft was the demand that insurance premiums must be the same for men and women. Now, the reason why rates differ between men and women is that the objective, statistical data shows that men and women have different mortality and sickness rates and also different experience with things like motor insurance (generally, women are better risks and so get better rates). This is objective reality. The bureaucrats, however, seem to think they can defy reality! They can't however, and the end result of fantasy-based directives is the crippling and ultimate destruction of business and prosperity. The directive has been modified but yet another layer of compliance and red tape has been added.
The second part of the article talks about the Insurance Mediation Directive. The problem, however, is that the Directive is so poorly worded that it's almost impossible to comply with.
"Comply with what, exactly? The directive is riddled with inconsistencies: the travel agent can sell you insurance against cancelling your holiday, but not an annual policy. The nice salesman from Dixons can sell you an extended warranty, because that's not insurance, is it?"
As a result of the uncertainty over the Directive, companies are forced to be extremely cautious about what they do.
In "Atlas Shrugged" there is a section where Hank Rearden points out that it's impossible to comply with a particular Directive. Whatever any businessman does, he will be "breaking the law". The sinister bureaucrat he is dealing with points out that is exactly the situation they want! Under those circumstances, business is completely at the mercy of the bureaucrats and their whims.
Whether or not this is the explicit aim, the end result is the same. The crippling of business and the consequent impact on prosperity. It's no coincidence that the core European economies are struggling, as this comment from a recent survey in the "Economist" makes clear:
"In Germany, France and Italy....unemployment is now hovering around 10% and public finances are in a mess. Germany in particular has had a grim few years: since 1996, it has averaged growth of just 1.3% a year. In fact, western Europe's economic miracle ended a long time ago. Average income levels, having risen to 70% of America's in the early 1970s, have been stuck there ever since and are now declining in relative terms."
While we are on the topic of European lunacy, I was stunned by this article today from the "Sydney Morning Herald" - "Sweden debates hitting men with domestic violence tax" (see here). This is beyond mere bureaucratic folly. This is pure evil. It reminds me of the collective responsibility doctrine usually associated with Nazi reprisals against civilians. Who will be next?
Now, I'm not making light of the issue of domestic violence. However, protection of women in the home is no different from the protection of all citizens from violence against their person. This is another example of how radical feminism has become simply another part of the general collectivist assault on individual liberty and prosperity.
posted by Kevin Francis at
8:32 pm
