Tony Blair, Gordon Brown and the CBI like to go on about the importance of low taxes and labout costs for competitiveness. Yet the most competitive country in Europe is not the UK, but Finland, has the highest taxes and labour costs in Europe. This little nugget came from Stephane Garelli, a professor at the IMD business school in Lausanne.
"It is not just about costs, it is about also technology, education and culture," said Professor Garelli at a business briefing just outside Nice, organised by Unisys, the US information technology group. Appropriately enough, with the EU in turmoil, the briefing is called Should European Businesses Fear the Future?
It was refreshing to hear someone avoid the cliches about trying to compete on costs. It is ridiculous to believe that firms in Europe where labour costs are $20 to $30 an hour can compete with Chinese wages of 50 cents an hour.
No comments:
Post a Comment