"The Trajtenberg committee sought general solutions, whose implementation will once again depend on special interests. So long as there is no thorough dealing with the problem of non-productive publics, and most support goes to these publics, there will be no substantive progress," said Rosario Capital Ltd. founder Ruben Eblagon in response to the Trajtenberg committee recommendations.
Eblagon said, "Government support should go toward encouraging economic production and output, and to encourage work and enterprise. It should not deal with the business sector or with working people, but with those who do not contribute to society. Work and the strengthening of the weak should be encouraged, not the weakening of the strong, which is liable to result in a decline in society as a whole."
Eblagon added, "The committee's recommendations to raise taxes on high income-earners is correct, but there should have been room to lower income taxes on income of less than NIS 10,000. In my opinion, the recommendation to raise the capital gains tax is a mistake. The capital market is an important factor in driving economic growth by encouraging investment. This measure is liable to do more harm than good."
Eblagon said, "There is room to reduce the public sector by privatizing government companies and cutting spending on government employees, including the size of the cabinet."
As for housing, Eblagon said, "The solution is in the hands of the Israel Land Authority and the Israeli government. If Land Authority tenders are held a price at which apartments can be sold at affordable prices, instead derived from the cost of the land, within a short time it will be possible to solve a large part of the housing problem. At the same time, the government should develop a transport network to bring the periphery closer to the center, while the public should accept the idea that buying an apartment on Rothschild Boulevard is really expensive."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on September 27, 2011
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