Our Dis-Integrated Economy
The New York Times, Economix, August 27th, 2012
A bright student could follow this seven-step guide using a laptop computer from the back seat of a large lecture hall while pretending to listen to an introductory economics lecture:
1. Rent a desk in a shared office and garner a great-sounding business address at a “global accelerator,” like the Plug and Play Tech Center (no need to actually sit there).
2. Incorporate in Liberia by e-mail for $713.50 (further details at the Low Tax Global Tax and Business Portal).
3. Crowd-source funding on a platform such as Kickstarter.
4. Hire programmers at an agency like ODesk to develop the application software.
5. Contract with an overseas drone manufacturer using a service such as Alibaba.com.
6. Set up a payment system with a company like Square.
7. Arrange shipping through a company like Shipwire (which describes itself as specializing in “outsourced e-commerce order fulfillment and logistics services for business”).
I would add one more step:
8. Renounce American citizenship and move to Singapore, as did the Facebook co-founder Eduardo Savarin. That would end your obligation as a citizen to pay income tax to the United States.
Perhaps we should admire the brilliant entrepreneurs who are creating this brave new world.
Read the full article here.
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