Benjamin Franklin noted that the smart thing for Britain to do was to make doing business in the colonies cheaper for East India Company but his wise counsel was ignored and revolt followed. |
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Help Ed Martin Change Washington |
The Boston Tea Party, from which the Tea Party movement draws its inspiration, is at its heart a story of excessive taxation, government and private sector “cooperation” and a people fed up with political leaders who hewed to their own counsel and ignored the people they governed.
Sound familiar?
The East India Company had struck a deal with the Crown to have an effective monopoly in the tea trade. This monopoly made East India wealthy and powerful, and enriched the monarchy – for a while. Over time the company found itself unable to profit in difficult times under the terms of the monopoly. The Tea Act was passed to offer relief to the East India Company – not by reducing the duties it had to pay to the crown, but by raising taxes on those who consumed it elsewhere.
By the time the tea in question had arrived in Boston harbor, many Americans were frustrated by the burdens placed on them by the British, the tea taxes being a very symbolic one. Typically, tea bound to America subject to the taxes was simply sent back without being offloaded. The Royal Governor of Boston Thomas Hutchinson refused to turn the tea back, and let the cargo sit in the harbor.
The Americans who snuck aboard the ship and heaved the tea into Boston Harbor struck a chord both here in America and in Britain. Americans began to rally to revolt, the British aristocracy running parliament became bellicose. Assuring themselves they were dealing with uncivilized rabble British leadership dug in and did as they saw fit.
Sound familiar?
A lesson I take from all this is that a small number of connected interests can partner with the government and prosper – for a while. Market forces always give such dubious partnerships a rough run eventually, and the failures always make their way onto the backs of the people. In the case of the East India Company, the regulations and taxes it agreed to became burdensome as European appetites shifted and famine struck India. Further, smuggled tea to the colonies eroded the market for their product, and the Crown was unwilling to change their end of the deal even though the conditions for trade had changed for East India Company.
Big business does not like competition, but history proves that anti-competitive regulation deals struck to favor big business inevitably doom them, but in the process serve to harm the economic outlook of the people. Congress like to inveigh against “fat cats” but these same fat cats shovel money into their campaign war chests, hire their families and provide juicy travel opportunities. Inevitably, confidence in the leader’s dedication to the people is questioned, if not clearly and obviously compromised.
Benjamin Franklin noted that the smart thing for Britain to do was to make doing business in the colonies cheaper for East India Company but his wise counsel was ignored and revolt followed. Today, hundreds of companies can take the symbolic place of the East India Company as they accept bailouts to recover from market catastrophes whose genesis is from government regulation.
I am running because I believe American business will do best when unshackled from choking regulations and burdensome taxation. Unleashed, the best workforce on earth will get back to doing what it does best, providing the world with leadership to prosperity.
