Debate Topic
Is it Time for an Entrepreneur Political Party?
By Joe Haslam S
o yes, it looks like we were all had. Played like pianos, eaten without salt. I´m talking about the Entrepreneur ecosystem in Spain, a sector assiduously
courted by both sides before the general election in Spain last November.
In
private at select briefings as well in stump speeches and manifestos, the incoming Conservative Partido Popular claimed to be an economically literate party who understood the role disruptive high growth firms played in creating employment and prosperity. The outgoing Socialist Labour party they claimed were a statist centralising tax and spenders who over eight years had been inhibitors to growth.
Within the first 100 days, the new Prime Minister would introduce an Entrepreneurs Act (La Ley de Emprenadores) which would among other things introduce limited liability, making it easier to register as self employed and maybe even an enterprise zone or two. Prominent and successful entrepreneurs spoke to politicians about enforcing competition, reducing lobbying to get the state out of business. Maybe this would take some time came the reply, but we can start with the easy stuff. We agree it’s ridiculous that Rwanda has a one stop 24 hour long business registration process and Spain does not.
Well coming up on a year now and NOTHING has been done. Actually, that´s not entirely true, the situation has been made worse. The self employed will now be taxed at 21% (from 15%) and VAT increased to a top rate of 21%. When questioned, the new date for La Ley de Emprenadores is 2014 with no reason for the delay apart from “priorities”. These priorities include the infamous “Ley Sinde” concerning intellectual property for the rights management
lobby, the
reintroduction of tax deductions for home buyers for the construction lobby as well as capital injections in the billions of Euros
for bankrupt banks. Some small light in the tunnel was Spain Startup Co-Investment Fund similar to the Yozma fund in Israel but €40m is very little when you consider that Spanish football clubs in the top two divisions alone owe €720m to the state in unpaid taxes.
As an investor in a number of companies based in Spain, I have some skin in this game. While I didn’t expect everything that was promised, I did expect that the obvious changes would be made. I’m now at the point where I no longer try to stop young graduates who tell me they plan to emigrate. Unless you have a specific reason to be here such as a family business or young children then why not try a growing country like Mexico, Brazil, India or Korea or even take the time to improve your English by going to Australia, USA, Canada or the UK? Great weather, food and lifestyle only go so far when it’s clear that life in Spain in the immediate future will get worse before it gets better.
Entrepreneurs Party
A good maxim in life is never to confuse malice with incompetence and this remains the
line offered by the newspapers
supportive to the government. Rabbit caught in the headlights, they say. It’s not that they don’t understand what needs to be done to unleash the entrepreneurs (but refuse to do it) more that they are carried along by the crises du jour and the need for quick wins to fend off ambitious up and comers. Many ministers are fighting for their own jobs and do not have the political capital to do the obvious, but noone wanted dramatic changes. So if the government will not lead, follow or get out of the way what are Entrepreneurs to do?
One intriguing idea is The Entrepreneurship Party. I had no idea if this existed or not but turns out it does. Based in Santa Monica,
37 entrepreneurcountry
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