Bitcoin is full of surprises as we enter unchartered territory

A MILESTONE for people who believe that too much tax destroys enterprise. Oklahoma  has just enacted legislation  immediately starting to reduce income tax, with a mandate to reduce it to zero.

And as part of that commitment there is a further commitment NOT to increase other taxes.

Now there are other taxes already in place (sales tax for a start, a bit like VAT) and it is expected that other, non-direct taxes will over time take up the slack. But the statement from the Governor, the two party leaders in the Oklahoma legislature and other worthies states quite categorically that Oklahoma is now on course for a fabulous, prosperous future, to the benefit of its people and the state generally.

One of the reasons they are doing this is because they have seen other states around them cutting taxes and guess what – that attracts businesses and people.

At the moment, Oklahoma is only rated 24of US states as best for taxation, but the new initiative is absolutely pointed directly at making this better.

There are, of course, some outstanding states. Alaska, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, and Wyoming do not levy income taxes. Washington does not tax income but does tax capital gains of certain high earners.

States with no income tax may still charge other taxes, such as sales and property taxes. Alaska is of course a special case with all that lovely oil and not a lot of people, but it is easy to see why Texas for example is booming – it is actually the state with the largest production of oil and gas in America. Interestingly, it is over ten times more productive than Alaska, which makes you think.

Oklahoma had a Bill before its legislature to establish a crypto reserve, but rejected it. So, although many other states are surging that way, Oklahoma isn’t. It is, however, the sixth largest oil and gas producer and consumes only a fraction of what it produces. It remains to be seen which will prove the better way.

To return to Naseem Taleb for a moment, one of his aphorisms is “The solution to many problems in life is by removing things, not adding them”.

He describes that as 'via negativa'. It means not doing more, but doing less of what doesn’t work. If only politicians in general would do that we would all be better off. I’ve mentioned this before but over the years and for a variety of reasons, Belgium has had periods when there was no government.

Some periods lasted more than a year. In the simplest terms, there were no politicians chopping and changing and generally getting in the way. As a result, it turns out the Belgians rank quite highly in the happiness stakes, especially when they don’t have a government. It certainly makes ME think.

In other and more important news, the American GENIUS act (Guiding and Establishing National Innovation Uniform Stablecoins) has managed to pass, with many Democrats shifting their positions as they recognised the rightness of what was being attempted.

The GENIUS Act concerns the issuance and exchange of stablecoins, whereby issuers have to hold reserves to cover redemptions and the like, as well as being audited. And a very good thing too.

And all this just as Bitcoin finally gets beyond its last all time high. We are in uncharted territory. As ever, Bitcoin surprises.