Learn from Henry Ford.

"Balancing fiscal prudence with the need to provide a growth impetus has been a hallmark of our government over past Union budgets." "With a keen eye on resilience..." "The budget for 2024-25 did a fine job..." "Particularly praiseworthy is the government's proposal..." wrote Chandrajeet Banerjee, director general of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). Obsequious, terrified of being seen to criticize, cringe-making and grovelling, even Aurangzeb probably did not inspire such terror. What sacrifice is Mr Banerjee requesting from politicians and civil servants? He is begging for tax simplification and widening the tax base. In September 2021, corporate tax rate was reduced to 22%, which, with cess and surcharge, meant an effective corporate tax rate of 25.17%. The tax rate for new investment in manufacturing was reduced to 15%, the effective rate being 17.01%. pib.gov.in. In August 2023, "The government lost a little over Rs 1 trillion in 2020-21 on account of a cut in corporate taxes, Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary said." ET. "Indian companies have to pay a lower statutory tax rate than companies in some other emerging economies such as Brazil, Argentina and Mexico." Mint. Corporate tax rates are now so friendly that, "Income tax from individuals now comprises more than 30% of the government's total tax receipts, significantly exceeding the contribution of taxes paid by companies, new data from the Income Tax Department shows." The Print. If his members are paying such low taxes what is Mr Banerjee's gripe? It is that "of the 75.5 million individuals who filed income tax returns for assessment year 2023-24, 63% paid zero tax and just 5% of filers paid 73.5% of the overall tax payable." He wants to widen the tax base which means he wants his own tax to reduce. Those at the top are paying more tax because CEOs of companies have awarded themselves massive increases in salaries so that CEOs now earn up to 1000 times the average salary of workers. TOI. While the top "30 million households (or 120 million people) has a per capita income of $15,000 per person (around Rs 1.23 million) and forms the country's consuming class," "As per the latest Periodic Labor Force Survey (PLFS), real wages of workers have increased only 0.7% per year between 2017-18 and 2022-23," wrote Abhishek Mukherjee. In 1912, Henry Ford doubled the wages of his workers from $2.5 to $5 per day, reduced working hours from 9 to 8 hours and increased the number of shifts from two to three. The huge increase in productivity brought down costs so much that "By 1919,  a Model T car that sold for $800 in in 1910 cost only $350," "and for the first time, the average Ford employee could also be a customer." Inc. What business in India would ever dream of reducing costs and paying workers higher wages? US Federal Prosecutors have issued arrest warrants and the US Securities and Exchange Commission has issued summons for Mr Gautam Adani and his nephew Sagar. BS. "There's corruption in private sector meant to enrich businessmen and executives at the expense of their own companies and shareholders." "Business corruption and political corruption form a symbiosis that has fueled growth for some time," wrote TK Arun. No wonder Mr Banerjee is so polite. Brothers in arms (dictionary), as it were.