There is something a little untoward about people who spent a lot of time urging other people to give to the poor and then make efforts to give less themselves. It’s a bit “Like a preacher stealing hearts at a travelling show” or something like that.
The gist of it is this. Bono is out asking the world to give more money to feed the poor and when Ireland said it would scrap a break that lets musicians and artists avoid paying taxes on royalties, Bono and his U2 bandmates moved their music-publishing company this year to the Netherlands. The Dublin-based rock group, which Forbes estimates earned $110-million (U.S.) in 2005, will pay about 5-per-cent tax on their royalties, less than half the Irish rate.
Hmmm.
Anyway, tangential to the main point here, I got to thinking why doesn’t New Brunswick implement some scheme to attract musicians and artists? I think we could use a little ummph and maybe the creative freaks could be a part of the solution. Richard Florida sure thinks so.
I think we need more creativity and innovation if we are to move NB forward. One thing about the creative class is that they do tend to be quite innovative.