"Certainly we need to improve the country's economy with the impetus of a new mining that will allow us to grow economically, but also in terms of equity and sustainable development," said the minister who thanked the participation of employees of the Ministry for the good service in the control subjects.

***
I'd like to know how you get sustainable development under this new tax regime. Seems to me you reduce your mine life by encouraging high grading, since the cost to mine is constant, regardless of grade. Where's the incentive to blend grades and get consistent long term production? To me, sustainability means two things: long mine life, and transferable skills. But how can you build the skills (especially across generations) if you don't have long mine life? At some point a mine will be played out. That's a fact. If it takes 30 years, you have enough time to a) find new mines b) develop related industries c) acquire the technical and management skills to do it yourself. The key to all this is long mine life, and the path to long mine life is low tax rates.

He added that the mining sector had been working on the possibility of having specific reforms to the Mining Law to enable the State to participate in this wealth.

***
This to me is a red flag. Socialist or capitalist, taxes are a fact of life, but how they're applied makes all the difference. If I tax The Very Big Mining Company, then redistribute it to The People via The State, I am effectively substituting my judgement for theirs, and in the process short-circuiting capital formation via private savings. Far better The People get a bigger slice of the pie through higher wages and profit-sharing (made possible by lower tax rates) which they can then consolidate via local credit unions to finance the local economy along the lines proposed by Catherine Austin Fitts (www.solari.com). Now that is true Middle Path socialism. Let The State act as a firewall to prevent exploitation, but not as a direct benefactor. That just sets up a dependency and perpetuates control over peoples' lives. That's not freedom, economic or otherwise.

Why does it seem like every nation on earth has to learn these lessons the hard way? Can't they read a book? Can't they study the examples of those that went before them? Look at what the Chinese are doing. You can't tell me The State isn't one massive firewall protecting the peoples' interests - but beyond that it's pretty much up to them, isn't it? To become rich is glorious. Wasn't that how Deng put it? Seriously, I'll bet the average Shuar Indian gets more of this than those guys up in Quito.

Damn it, why is it suddenly MY job to explain this stuff to them? I'm the ruthless capitalist who's supposed to be exploiting them! They should be explaining this to ME!

ebear