Why Reps From All Ghana's Political Parties Will Benefit From Attending Cato University 2017

For years some of us have pleaded with our ruling elites to be creative  in their thinking if they want our homeland Ghana to be transformed into a prosperous society.

We have advocated for the abolishing of personal income tax and lowering corporate tax rates, for example (to make Ghana the nation with the lowest corporate tax rates in the continent of Africa) - to attract more investment into our nation's real economy.

And we have demanded that private-sector entities be given the opportunity to build a railway network to all the regional capitals with their own money and run those railway lines without paying any taxes on their profits for 35 years.

Ditto give the same tax incentives to private-sector companies to build, own and maintain a network of tolled concrete motorways connecting all the regional capitals in Ghana, for 35 years.

Would our country not be able to modernise and expand its infrastructure that way - without burdening taxpayers?

Politicians need to examine all ideas critically - even ones that appear zany on the surface at first sight. Have some of us not suggested Japan as a source of cheap loans that we could tap for years now?

What harm did it do to Ghana when the new finance minister did so recently? None. It rather enabled Ghana to have access to cheap credit on very favourable terms that enabled it comfortably retire expensive old debt did it not? Bully to the Hon Ken Ofori-Atta for thinking creatively in that instance.

And when we predicted that China was capable of loaning Ghana as much U.S.$20 billion - shortly after President Mills came to power - our hope then was that our leaders would seek government-to-government interest-free loans such as the interest-free U.S.$500 million China loaned Tanzania and Zambia to build the Tazara railway line giving landlocked Zambia direct access to the  Dar es Saalem seaport in Tanzania.

Pity that hard-of-hearing lot  went for commercial loans instead.

Political parties in Ghana need to move away from the shadow of conventional economic thinking if our nation is to be transformed into a prosperous society.

There is an opportunity they can sieze to participate in  conversations that will open their minds to the endless possibilities available for creative politicians to create wealth and jobs by attending Cato University 2017 being organised by the Cato Institute's College of Economics, at Newport Beach, California.

One also hopes that journalists from the more responsible sections of the Ghanaian media will be able to attend too.

We have culled and posted the Cato Institute's email  to us announcing the dates and venue for this year's Cato Institute's educational event of the year, Cato University 2017, below.

Please read on:

"Cato University is the Cato Institute’s premier educational event of the year. This program brings together outstanding faculty and participants from across the country and, often, from around the globe who share a commitment to liberty and learning. We hope you will be able to join us in beautiful Newport Beach, California for a spectacular vacation and a truly unique learning experience!

Cato University’s College of Economics is based on the conviction that economics is a way of thinking, a tool for decision-making, and a basis for action. It’s the necessary foundation for understanding government, business, and society.

Discussions by Nobel Laureate Vernon Smith and top scholars from Harvard University, Northwestern University, and the Cato Institute will solidify your expertise on basic economic principles, and help you apply them to today’s most pressing issues. Discussion topics include:

•    The Economics of Liberty and Prosperity: Modern widespread prosperity is made possible by respect for individual freedom. How are liberty and shared prosperity closely connected?

•    The Power of Incentives: What is the impact of positive incentives? How can the wrong incentives, even imposed with the best of intentions, create truly perverse consequences?

•    The Economics of Knowledge: The knowledge needed for economic coordination is dispersed throughout society and not easily communicated. How have markets, prices, and other mechanisms evolved to allow people in free societies to benefit from such dispersed knowledge?

•    Adam Smith on Moral Sentiments and the Wealth of Nations: A special presentation by Vernon Smith, Nobel Laureate in Economics and senior fellow at the Cato Institute.

Details and Registration: Registration and additional information on this year's schedule and lecturers is available at Cato.org/Cato-University.

If you have any questions about the 2017 program, please email Brandi Dunn. For registration information, please call 202-789-5229."

End of culled Cato Institute email notice announcing this year's Cato University venue and session  dates.