THE economy is in a muddle, society is in tumult, people look distressed and helpless, even the darling food markets are slippery, economic institutions and mainstream media are barely alive.
This government’s cockaigne season is long over. But, Tanzania economic ephialtes may have just begun. Five long years.
The definition of the economy has been reduced to taxes both in thinking and practicalities. There is no more economy to talk about, it is all about taxes and taxes and taxes. The list of those taxes to poor mwananchi is from here to Timbuktu, hence the meaning of Tozonia.
The tax proposals and implementations are due to the hubris of a central planner. But raising taxes in our kind of economy is neither feasible nor desirable. I can’t see how you’d increase taxes without a revolution. And I can’t see why anybody would want a state that squanders one third(1/3) of its income and seven percent of its GDP to collect more. I have used my words carefully.
Is it now clear that Winston Churchill meant Tozonia when he said, “the government is like a baby’s elementary canal, with a happy appetite at one end and no responsibility at the other?”
Nonetheless, when push comes to shove, economists in politics will not be exonerated. You’ll not tell your poor relatives that you worked with the devil to cross the river. You’ll have to prove if you crossed the river with them. In that line, this is my unsolicited advice with regards to rules you have to adhere to.
A. If rulers want your advice, be very careful. They probably just want to trade on your reputation.
B. If rulers want your advice, they probably also already know the conclusion you will arrive at. They picked you for that reason. Even if your conclusion is bellicose to their preferences. Ergo, be careful.
C. It is not your job to design policy. You should only highlight trade-offs from policy options. Let the politicians have control on the trade-offs.
D. You can always do policy evaluations and projections. Nonetheless, when you do, you have no judge but your peers in academia. The others can go to hell.
E. In case you want to violate these rules, change bonnets.
If you do that, you will have done great service to your nation *Tanzania* not *Tozonia*.
Bravious Kahyoza.
