Lalin Dias

When government fears the people, there is liberty. When the people fear the government, there is tyranny.

[Lalin Dias @LalinDias]

@h_liyan @mafernando So you just want the government to go faster on the battery roll out? I wonder if getting rid of VAT and PAL on solar panels and duties, VAT and PAL on consumer size batteries might help people get this done themselves.

[Lalin Dias @LalinDias]

@madushan1000 @h_liyan You are right. Wealth taxes are not very common. I can’t say I am in favour of them either. I was just trying to say that they’d prefer additional expenditure be financed via taxation.

[Lalin Dias @LalinDias]

@h_liyan @mafernando I think many are willing to invest to produce the electricity they use. I don’t know if there is a large appetite to invest more to produce in excess of that. The CEB buys at Rs. 23 a unit? How long is the payback for the additional investment at those feed-in rates?

[Lalin Dias @LalinDias]

@h_liyan Oh right. So you are talking about no limits top rooftop solar?

[Lalin Dias @LalinDias]

@madushan1000 @h_liyan Best way to fund government expenditure is via tax revenue. Second best is borrowing. Worst way is to print money. So IMF should be fine if it’s funded via tax. All depends on much each of the 170,000 need to pay. I think it could be a number so large it would be impractical.

[Lalin Dias @LalinDias]

@h_liyan @mafernando this is your area I think. Do you have a ‘back of the envelop’ type estimate of the capex required to go 100% renewable? Production, transmission, distribution, storage .. the full works.

Where are we at now in terms of generation from renewables?

[Lalin Dias @LalinDias]

@h_liyan If it’s a BOOT (build, own, operate, transfer) project, then the investment is not from the government or CEB.

[Lalin Dias @LalinDias]

@h_liyan As for the US, the nationalist wing of the right doesn’t like competitive markets either. Gota was not too different from Trump in that regard.

[Lalin Dias @LalinDias]

A little unusual to see the IMF to the left of the NPP on a policy debate.

https://t.co/OyBzjVCPFn

[Lalin Dias @LalinDias]

@h_liyan NPP? They have opposed opening up on the trade front for quite a while. They do seem to have moderated now that they are responsible for growth. However, they still seem to struggle to move fast on trade.

[Lalin Dias @LalinDias]

Amusing to hear the most asset rich individual on the planet saying that money won’t matter in ten years and that, instead of taxing him more, the government should just print money.

[The Economist @TheEconomist]

“Money won’t matter in 2036,” claims @elonmusk on the latest episode of The Insider. He tells @zannymb, The Economist’s editor-in-chief, how people will live when AI and robots can do every job and why he expects deflation, not inflation: https://t.co/IQwRnHXAXM

[Lalin Dias @LalinDias]

@h_liyan UNP, SJB & NPP are all for a progressive tax system. No major diff there. That is, as you say, fairly centrist. It was the SLPP that were the most to the right on taxes.

It’s the NPP’s reluctance to open up on trade that disqualifies them from being considered right of centre.

[Lalin Dias @LalinDias]

@h_liyan My favourite of the classical economists when I studied them for a year in uni. Can’t remember a thing I’m afraid. Will look it up.

I have no opposition to local governments funding there activities and investments via property taxes from residents in their area.

[Lalin Dias @LalinDias]

@h_liyan You can put me in that camp. 🙂
I must admit that still find it hard to consider the NPP right of centre.

[Lalin Dias @LalinDias]

This man really has lost the plot

[Rachel Gilmore @atRachelGilmore]

Absolute crash out from Musk after he’s presented with the reality that many, many people fucking hate him

[Lalin Dias @LalinDias]

An important contribution to the conversation about what our next inflation target should be set at.

https://t.co/gBxK5dMel2

[Lalin Dias @LalinDias]

@h_liyan Limited liability certainly should continue. Very few will start new businesses without limited liability.

[Lalin Dias @LalinDias]

Finally. This is exactly what we should be doing with the Port City. Not tax breaks. It should be a zone to trial the labour and capital reforms that a required to attract meaningful FDI.

https://t.co/DehdMpEoMp

[Lalin Dias @LalinDias]

@h_liyan This harder it is the close a business, the fewer new businesses will start. The harder it is to terminate employment, the fewer employment opportunities there will be.

[Lalin Dias @LalinDias]

@h_liyan In addition, if a company is not able to make a success of its business (or a new business line) it should be able to close it down quickly.