A real letter from a CEO to his employees.

Re:A real letter from a CEO to his employees. by 3pt14159 on Wednesday January 07, 2009 @08:22AM (#423381)

He could hire educated employees because they paid for education; it is a engineering company, not McDonalds. While it is true that the government pays for most primary education, the vast majority of these funds do not come from federal or state taxes, but rather property tax.

If the government really wanted to create "security" in the financial system they would increase the reserve limit for banks to 25% and print bills to the difference in the money supply.

Roads, bridges, etc... do allow companies to move products - most employers are very happy to pay for these developments. Most of these, however, are paid with gas taxes and tolls (at least here in Canada).

The three points you mention cost money, but make up a tiny percent of the American budget. The main money leaches are Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, interest on the debt, and the military. The author of that letter mentions welfare, but this minor in the scheme of things.

Don't get me wrong, I think that sending a letter like that is completely unwise, but I agree with the spirit of his letter.

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Re:A real letter from a CEO to his employees. by sethg on Wednesday January 07, 2009 @09:30AM (#423434)

He could hire educated employees because they paid for education; it is a engineering company, not McDonalds.

And where did these engineers go to school? Did they attend a public or private university? Was the school subsidized by land grants from the government? Did the students benefit from government-guaranteed student loans? Was the school able to attract professors because of government-sponsored research? Etc., etc.

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Re:A real letter from a CEO to his employees. by astine on Wednesday January 07, 2009 @10:21AM (#423488)

If your family could have afforded to send you to college, It is reasonable to presuppose that they could have afforded a private school, the one is generally far more expensive than the other. If there were no public school system, then they would cost even less. - not to say we shouldn't have schools.

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Re:A real letter from a CEO to his employees. by eli on Wednesday January 07, 2009 @10:27AM (#423494)

You think private schools don't get government funding?

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Re:A real letter from a CEO to his employees. by astine on Wednesday January 07, 2009 @10:32AM (#423497)

Only some do. My schooling certainly didn't, and my folks weren't rich by any stretch of the imagination.

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Re:A real letter from a CEO to his employees. by andreyf on Wednesday January 07, 2009 @10:45AM (#423519)

Then why didn't doesn't he start the company in a country with lower taxes? Last I checked, Russia has a significantly lower corporate tax than the US, and yet you don't see businesses thriving there as they do in the US...

"The spirit" of his letter is a naive oversimplification - the idea that "lower taxes always increase innovation" is simple to justify, but has little evidence in the real world.

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