Moshe Feiglin: Israel Doesn’t Need a Shot of Socialism

"The more capitalistic a country is – in other words – the less regulations, laws and rules that govern it  – the higher the per capita income of the lower percentiles of that society,” said Moshe Feiglin on Sunday. Feiglin quoted Economist Gilad Alper with the following statistics:

When the states of the world are divided into four groups according to their level of capitalism, it turns out that the annual per capita income of the lower percentiles of the most capitalist states is approximately $10,000. This is more than twice the annual per capita income ($4400) in the same percentile in the states that are rated as second in capitalism. The $10,000 is almost four times more than the group of states rated third in capitalism ($2600) and six times more than the least capitalist states, in which the per capita income for the lower percentile is $1630. In short, capitalism leaves a lot to be desired, but the way to treat its illness is not by administering a shot of regulation and centralization. What is needed is just the opposite.

To heal the ills in Israel’s economy, Feiglin recommended the implementation of the following steps:

• Expose the market (particularly food and motor vehicles) to competitive imports. (The European quality standards are fine: Israel does not need its own quality standardization.
• Privatize state land (93%) for housing by lottery for all citizens eligible for army draft.
• Drastic cuts to government offices and state budget.
• Nullify the Company Tax and encourage companies to create more places of work with their profits.
• Major cuts to income tax.
• Fight the swamps of corruption, particularly in the Defense Ministry (as I began to do with the Health Ministry and the Sarel Company when I was an MK)
• Cease funding our enemies. For example, stop the free electricity to Gaza. (So far, the Oslo Accords have cost Israel one trillion shekels. This is 10% of our annual budget, the same value as all Israel’s natural gas discoveries. Or the value of a free home for every young couple.)
• Restore the Social Security Army Veteran’s Allowance. Currently, 52% of Israel’s Social Security is invested in the Arab sector. Their payments into social security, however, make up just a few percentage points.
• In short, Israel must cut down on the involvement of the State and expand human liberty as much as possible.

“Ask yourselves to which group you would like Israel to belong,” Feiglin suggested. “To the group in which the poorest of the poor make $10,000 a year? Or to the group in which the poor make less than half of that?”