curbing brain drain
i was reading this article in the philippine star about asian development bank recommending “taxing brain drain in order to curb the growing problem of losing educated laborers in the country.”
i do not see this recommendation as a positive solution to the problem. i see it as leading to more problems.
what these laborers want is money. not money enough to conquer the planet but money enough to feed the wife and the kids and maybe the grand parents. enough money to make their lives a little more comfortable. they will not think of the grand scheme of making the country progress when the wife and junior is hungry or when the grand parents need more money for medical care. taxing these laborers for wanting to go out of the country to try to get more income for their families will only make them resent the government and everyone else around them. you do not hold them hostage for that.
i do not even think that political instability is a great big factor in their decision to leave. i would even go as far as to think that political instability would serve as entertainment — it has for several years now. and the pinoys have lived through it.
if you want to retain the laborers within the philippine area of responsibility i would suggest that you have to give them more money. the employers will certainly not agree to this idea but the government can give these laborers tax incentives — make them pay less taxes. paying less taxes means the laborer has more money in his pocket which also means that he can spend more. what he spends on gets taxed so the government still gets their tax money, albeit indirectly.
the philippines is actually a nice country. the reasons to stay are here already — family, friends, a pretty good amount of friendly people, great sunsets and beaches. giving a tax incentive to these laborers will make their decision to leave the country even harder. it may even make them stay.
