• Introduction
• Courses
• Location
• Learning Resources + Facilities
• Photo Gallery
• Contact Us
• Meet Our Team
• Enquiries + Applications

Home > About The IBS > Press Releases

Press Releases

Focklaghyn-naight

Media Update - 22 May 2002

Taxation is far too important a matter to be left to the Philosophers

Professor Charles Cain, Visiting Professor in International Taxation at the International Business School, is presenting his inaugural lecture at 6.15pm on Wednesday 29 May at the Manx Museum.

Professor Cain is the Founder and Chief Executive of Skyefid Limited, corporate and fiduciary consultants and managers in the Isle of Man, specialising in structures for US tax planning; foundations and charities and European leisure resorts. He is also Editor of Offshore Investment magazine, a Director of Studies for the Offshore Investment Postgraduate Seminar at Jesus College, Oxford and an Adjunct Professor of International Taxation for St Thomas University, School of Law, in Miami.

For his lecture, Professor Cain has chosen to discuss the matter that 'Taxation is far too important a matter to be left to the Philosophers'. The lecture is free and open to the public - anyone interested is welcome to attend.

Lecture outline:
The world has changed in the last six months. But the changes have been happening for many years, and they are only now becoming evident. The OECD report of 1998 and other international initiatives owe nothing to economics or rational thought, but are primarily the result of a marriage of French deconstructionist philosophy allied with the emotional response of bureaucracies to the effect that globalisation is having on traditional power structures.

It is important to understand these philosophical concepts, and to understand the damage that they can do when divorced from the realities and discipline of economic analysis. It is crucially important for the Isle of Man's future that we handle these issues correctly.

The discipline of economics tells us much about the impact of taxation policies. Such policies can be hugely destructive of an economy. They can also be immensely constructive. The interaction of fiscal policy with monetary policy is of fundamental importance. Where a Government has no control over monetary policy, fiscal independence is absolutely vital in its management of the economy. Anything that threatens that control strikes at the very heart of that Government's capability to govern, and can have dire consequences socially.

To survive in the new integrated world, a small jurisdiction like the Isle of Man needs to demonstrate professional expertise, and an alert awareness of the market place. We must keep our costs under control. We have to identify opportunities in the market place. We need to promote professional competence and ability. We must support our local entrepreneurs. We need to devise government policies on taxation and spending on the basis of what suits us best as a community.

Professor Charles Cain
Visiting Professor in International Taxation
Isle of Man International Business School

Weblinks: www.ibs.ac.im