At one time Reaganomics was a strongly trending catch phrase that trips from the mouths of entrepreneurs and academics alike. In a nutshell it summarizes the economic policy of the Republican Party in just a few words-reduced taxation, small government and free enterprise. I am not saying Ronald Reagan was the chief architect of the idea but he sure did flesh out the concept as a functional government policy.
Unlike Clinton he doesn’t sound too academic and fetish when it comes to economics. No wonder the way he simplified presumably hard nut topics enabled him to win the hearts and minds of the common man. He is witty, no doubt about that. If you ask me, Reagan jokes are by far better and in good taste than Trevor Noah’s corny ones. They are akin to good old Abe Lincoln’s.
Never mind all that, we are in campaign season, aren’t we? We kinda had a mudslinging false start and it made me revisit youtube files of old presidential debates of the United States and I chanced up on a Johnny Carson late night show featuring Reagan. At the time, he was the reigning incumbent President seeking a second term but he didn’t mince words when he blamed the government for all the economic paralysis of the country. ‘Government is the problem, Johnny!’ he had concluded.
1-The Largest Sovereign Fund in Africa
You know what I think? I think in the near future Ethiopian Investment Holding is going to crush under the impact of its own colossal weight. To begin with, unlike what it says EIH isn’t an entity designated to ‘manage public assets’. It is a monolithic, monopolistic public trading house that has dominated and suffocated free enterprise. Guess what? Though we don’t have antitrust law per se to limit the unchecked power of monopolies for the good of the consumer and fair competition, we do have a proclamation that provides for the protection of consumers and to reign in anti-free competition trading practices. It is a beautiful piece of legislation that serves no better purpose than being attached to a government report submitted to some global orgs.
Attempts were made to put the law to practice but it wasn’t meant to be; the judicial tribune constituted was disbanded and appended to Federal court jurisdiction as a commercial bench. The idea behind the legislation is simple-free enterprise doesn’t mean laissez-faire anarchy. In other words Ethio-Telocom cannot cut prices and kick Safaricom out of the market. Our own dear breathing Sovereign Wealth-Haile Gebresilassie-wouldn’t be allowed to manipulate the price of the hospitality industry in the country taking advantage of his dominance in the sector ‘for the good of Ethiopians’. ሁልጊዜ ይቻላል የለም፡፡ I am not implying that public oversight of commerce is unnecessary on the contrary it is imperative and government owned business are actually threatening free enterprise and they should be broken up not amalgamated to minimize their chances of growing into a monopoly.
In this respect EIH has made the government look like a gigantic Corporation, something like a virtual stumbling boulder that inhibits free enterprise. Look, because of entities like EIH, the government pays tax, the government collects tax, the government establishes a business enterprise, and the government establishes the authority that controls it. In between Sovereign Wealth liable to be wasted not managed. Bottom-line? The government becomes the problem. (I know the Russian Federation has a Sovereign Wealth Fund but it isn’t a set of public companies.)
2 – Power Corrupts
Assume you are a struggling Company trying to retain employees and reduce the rate of attrition by providing fringe benefits such as service buses. If you think it is enough to let the pertinent government organ know about it, you might as well be a starry eyed naiveté from Disneyland.
The regulatory body wants to do ‘business’ out of your predicament. You will have to get a special license, renew it every quarter of a year; you cannot make a detour from the designated itinerary etc. You pay to get the license and ‘oil palms’ as a matter of standard procedure (the ratio is 1:4), you pay to renew after three months and again oil ‘stretched out dry palms’, if for whatever reason you make a detour to drop an employees an army of officers would descend upon you demanding ‘your license and registration’ please. You end up scarping the benefit. Bottom-line-the goddamn government is the problem!
3 – Regulating Labor Relation-the tale of two systems
I don’t deny good deeds just to make a story fit my narrative. It is always commendable when the story defines the narrative. In contrast Addis City Bureaus are by far better than their regional counterparts. At least they know what they are supposed to do. Yes, at least they know. In some regions there is a creepy role reversal. Government organs sow deliberate discord between the worker and the employer.
You know why? It is in their best interest when the two lock horns as they stand to benefit by soliciting funds to settle the dispute. Maintaining industrial peace and helping the growth and prosperity of the country is none of their business. If ILO were to commission an independent study, I am sure it would settle for a finding that establishes the overwhelming bureaus are funneling differences out of proportion. In the absence of the regulatory organ, the labor Confederation, federations and trade unions on one side and the employer and employers association on the other hand could keep industrial peace by far better. Bottom-line, government is the problem, not the solution.
4-Financing one’s own Robber
The humiliating irony is you are paying tax at an ever increasing rate among others to pay the salary of your day light robber, to empower the country wrecking blood sucking fat vermin. My standing advice to the government for its own good is to deregulate and to keep the cadres out of business.
God Bless.
The writer can be reached at : estefanoussamuel@yahoo.com
Editor’s Note : Views in the article do not necessarily reflect the views of borkena.com
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