Americans (and the Vulcans) have a saying:
Only Nixon could go to China.French President announces pro-business measures
91–100 of 158 posts
Re: French President announces pro-business measures
#92Earlier quoted context omitted.
Wasn’t there a thread here recently how it took them until 2010 to build a second sewage plant and still have to haul their shit away in trucks?
FYI, after what happened in Cyprus (and may be repeated in malta), dozens of online businesses which were based there are moving to Dubai. Not sure how the schizoid behavior of Europeans authorities with regards to business is helping at all.
Because, err, Dubai is such an extremely democratic country where it is absolutely guaranteed that the government will jump in if you fail and where there is a large social security net in case your company goes bankrupt?
Really, Cyprus and Malta are not that different from Dubai, and neither is their business model. The difference is that Cyprus and Malta are part of a larger entity that guarantees certain things, such as human rights[0], reimbursement of up to 100k € if the bank goes bankrupt[1] and support for temporarily failing countries[2]. Oh, and the risk of Iran attacking Cyprus or Malta is surprisingly low as well.
[0] extradition to the US from the UK being one of the interesting things here.
[1] cf. the EU’s opposition to the Cypriot government’s original idea to just take n% from everybody.
[2] extra loans to Ireland, cheap money to Italy etc.pp.
Re: French President announces pro-business measures
#93I remember hearing about France's 35-hour work-week (in the mid to late '90s I believe) and I'm curious if some of the Frenchmen here can tell us how eliminating that cap has affected the economy. Are people simply working more hours? Has unemployment gone up since a business needing X number of hours a week needs less workers? And most importantly, was that limiting the ability to create start-ups?
Re: French President announces pro-business measures
#94There is a reason for which there have been no big French or European company founded after WW2 (1945). The reason is called socialism. Think about it. BMW, Mercedes, Siemens, Loreal, Peugot, you name it! No Google from Europe, no Microsoft, no Oracle, or Tesla, or whatever. Not a single big company from the EU after 1945. Especially overregulated places like France. I met a French clothes designer in New York recent…
The USA is a massive massive home market and has been since 1945. If you succeed in USA, then the past century has almost assured you will succeed globally.
Put in place that most of the big companies mentioned are huge successes mostly in IT - and the distortion becomes more obvious - IT plays homage to the network effect, the biggest home market in the world is the USA, so get yout IT play right there, you get it right everywhere.
When a home-grown IT company busts out of India or China (or rather out of Bangalore or Chengdu) then it will be time to blame overregulation.
Re: French President announces pro-business measures
#95Earlier quoted context omitted.
True. But the first million is not tax free neither. If over 1,000,000 is 75% then I'd assume that below 1,000,000 isn't much better. I'd assume if I sell for 2,000,000 the total tax will be at least 50%. How is this fair?
It's fair because you're driving on roads, bring your children to school, may need to go to hospital at times, and profit from a judicial system able to enforce law and your company's contracts, among other things. If you want to live in a country without taxes, try Somalia, or Congo.
The debate is not between "taxes" and "no taxes." We're all clever enough to understand shades of gray.
Re: French President announces pro-business measures
#96There is a reason for which there have been no big French or European company founded after WW2 (1945). The reason is called socialism. Think about it. BMW, Mercedes, Siemens, Loreal, Peugot, you name it! No Google from Europe, no Microsoft, no Oracle, or Tesla, or whatever. Not a single big company from the EU after 1945. Especially overregulated places like France. I met a French clothes designer in New York recent…
Tesla is a big company? Bigger than Virgin? Pull the other one, it's got bells on. I'm not saying incorporation is not stupidly expensive in Europe, but lets keep it balanced.
He means non-UK Europe.
Re: French President announces pro-business measures
#97Earlier quoted context omitted.
In the US -- we look at some of our most successful businesses and a ton of them had bankrupt companies in their past... Ford (cars), Disney (media), Lincoln (president), Heinz (condiments), Hershey (candy), Twain (author), Fox (media) -- tons of others...
The flipside of that in anecdotally I've heard that companies that really /should/ die limp along from a long time and get more funding in the US. Is this true or just a myth?
The "zombie company" thing used to happen (in the late 90s), not so much anymore.
Now it seems we have gone to the other extreme, "fail fast" is the slogan of the day. Sometimes companies fail so fast they never get a chance to grow into a success or pivot.
Re: French President announces pro-business measures
#98There is a reason for which there have been no big French or European company founded after WW2 (1945). The reason is called socialism. Think about it. BMW, Mercedes, Siemens, Loreal, Peugot, you name it! No Google from Europe, no Microsoft, no Oracle, or Tesla, or whatever. Not a single big company from the EU after 1945. Especially overregulated places like France. I met a French clothes designer in New York recent…
Tesla is a big company? Bigger than Virgin? Pull the other one, it's got bells on. I'm not saying incorporation is not stupidly expensive in Europe, but lets keep it balanced.
And in the software field a little company called SAP AG and elsewhere in the technology field a little phone company called Vodafone.
Re: French President announces pro-business measures
#99Earlier quoted context omitted.
In the US -- we look at some of our most successful businesses and a ton of them had bankrupt companies in their past... Ford (cars), Disney (media), Lincoln (president), Heinz (condiments), Hershey (candy), Twain (author), Fox (media) -- tons of others...
Great point - Unfortunately, it's endemic in European society that bankruptcy should be labelled as a permanent branding of failure for an entrepreneur. Until this year in Ireland, an adjudicated bankrupt could not apply for €630 credit without disclosing his status as a bankrupt (which could last for up to 12 years!) I'd bet that the countries with the lowest barriers to exiting bankruptcy (eg 6 months in the US) al…
This is really interesting, because it goes beyond just a label -- it is a social stigma. I am now going to have to find some books on the topic!
Re: French President announces pro-business measures
#100That is swell and everything. But why doesn't the president fix his crazy tax scheme, first. The pigeons have already left the roost and now he's set his aim further down the tax bracket. Apologies, I just received a letter saying I owe the impots an additional 400€. For reasons I can't imagine since my salary hasn't appreciated that much. Entrepreneurship is hard enough already, the government taking more money does…
Back taxes has very little to do with the system and very much to do with your employers bookkeeping?
I've been with my employer for 6 years and have never had a problem such as this. I also pay my taxes in monthly instalments that is predetermined by the fonctionnaires.