Taxes: The Global Game of Thrones

The United States tax system is always changing, with Congress regularly reviewing it. The goal is to reward success in the marketplace, which comes from innovation, productivity, and job creation. This is the American way of doing business. It is not a chaotic system; it is a deliberate engine that drives investment based on real economic potential. Businesses succeed or fail based on market fundamentals, not government handouts. The global tax deal negotiated at the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) is causing concern. This deal includes a new 15 percent minimum corporate tax for countries that have never had one. The idea is to stop tax-dodging by multinationals, but the design is flawed. It trades one problem for another. Instead of fostering open, fair, and transparent markets, it will create a contest for direct state subsidies in the form of cash handouts or refundable tax credits. Countries will use these incentives to attract businesses.

This system favors political connections and authoritarian governments over ingenuity and innovation. It is a shady system that distorts markets and picks winners and losers. Taxpayers end up footing the bill for political pet projects that have dismal economic prospects. It is an inefficient way to energize economic activity. The global tax deal is not just a friendly suggestion. It is a direct threat to economic sovereignty. It is taxation without representation on steroids. The U. S. should not play the role of global nanny, dictating domestic policy to sovereign states. Countries around the world are free to determine a domestic policy that meets their political and economic demands. But this stops being a "mind your own business" issue the moment the OECD's grand plan starts picking American taxpayers' pockets to fund other countries' social programs or pet projects. The global tax deal is a loaded gun aimed at countries that don't join in. It is a threat to the economic sovereignty of the United States. The U. S. tax sovereignty belongs in Washington, not in Paris. The U. S. should hold the line, reject this global tax trap, and remind the world why economic freedom still matters. Businesses, workers, and taxpayers deserve nothing less.

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