Mark Carney is a decent chap,
That’s plain enough to see.
So we read his Value(s) book,
In case we might agree.
In all 528 pages,
There wasn’t much on tax.
So it left us more impressed
By what his Value(s) lacks.
Though he questions market fixes,
To our world’s predicament,
He forgets the real tricks is,
Taxes that the rich lament.
He thinks we can upgrade the thing;
Through “better values” markets bring,
Solution to pollution, graft.
Without fair tax, you gotta laugh.
Wealth trickles up, not down to those
Who pay tax through financial woes.
A real leader says and knows
We need to fight financial foes.
Barely a word, and how absurd,
To hike the corporate tax.
Maybe that’s a no-no,
For old pals at Goldman Sachs.
And calls to tackle those tax havens,
Like Biden, Yellen, those less craven?
Nope? Switzerland’s dope?
Those workers and the middle class
Might whine but they can cope?
Close tax loopholes? Might be good.
Tax digital giants? Could.
There’s reference to a lotta stuff,
But on fair tax there’s not enough.
He has a decent 10-point plan
(Page 470 and 471),
Which ain’t so bad unless you think
Taxation is a crucial link
From value(s) to the job at hand,
And fairness most of us demand.
And a stance on governance,
That doesn’t do for revenue,
What most thinkers, red or blue,
Now admit is overdue,
Likely won’t raise cash we need,
From fortunes built on endless greed.
For us, that doesn’t cut it.
Not enough, to bluntly put it.
Given this pandemic thing,
The shipwreck climate change will bring,
Mark shoulda took a better look
At why this crisis really calls
For leaders with a bit more (g)alls.
Now we don’t say “Don’t vote for Mark,”
There are indeed worse chaps out there.
But plans that might be worth a lark,
Would state our taxes should be fair.
Photo credit: World Economic Forum, 26 January 2013 (flickr); Creative Commons License.
