Hollande eyes ‘Google Tax’ for websites
French President Francois Hollande is considering a pushing for a new tax that would see search engines such as Google have to pay each time they use content from French media.
Hollande discussed the topic with Eric Schmidt, executive chairman of Google, during a meeting in Paris on Monday.
Hollande says the rapid expansion of the digital economy means that tax laws need to be updated to reward French media content.
Google has opposed the plan and threatened to bar French websites from its search results if the tax is imposed.
Germany is considering a similar law, and Italian editors have also indicated they would favor such a plan.
It's a little unclear what's being proposed here, but it seems that if I do a Google search and click on a French website, Google would be taxed by the French government. Or maybe if Google republishes French content they would get taxed. It's a little vague what would be taxed and how it would be collected.
What democratic socialists like Hollande never seem to figure out is that taxing something creates a disincentive for whomever pays the tax. These folks don't seem to understand that people will ordinarily not just simply stand still and let the government take shots at them. Peoples' behavior will change, the marketplace will change, and the tax will never accomplish what its advocates say it will.
Hollande is proposing the tax to "...reward French media content." This is perplexing. How will imposing this tax reward French websites? If Google will pay a tax when it uses French content, it seems to me that French websites will experience lower traffic. Will they get some of the tax proceeds? as their reward? What exactly is being proposed here?
But beyond that, what is the purpose of the tax? Is there some compelling interest the French government has in the selection of French websites? The article states that "...expansion of the digital economy means that tax laws need to be updated..." Why? Does the existence of something mean that it must be taxed? If someone expends their creative energy on some new technology or innovation, the government must move in and tax it simply because it isn't presently being taxed?
Once upon a time it was gangsters who shook down local shop keepers demanding a piece of the action. Gangsters made no contribution to the process that created the wealth they laid claim to, they simply walked in and coerced the money out of the shop keeper. Now government is the gangster, having contributed nothing to the process of creating wealth, but demanding a piece of the action simply because there it is there.
I think it was Ronald Reagan who said, "If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it." He was right.
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