Does anyone here have experience starting a business in a third world country? Is it difficult? Where do you recommend that is safe and with strong property rights?
Which country/continent were you thinking of? If any in particular?
Sorry for the late reply - I am thinking about asian countries!
I would also be interested in hearing more information about this.
If you are an US citizen, Thailand is the best place as, under the US Treaty of Amity, US citizens are among the very few who can wholly own a business in Thailand. Consider Bangkok is far more expensive than, say, Chiang Mai but it’s still ridiculously cheap by US and European standards. If you rent a place (say, to open a shop) it very likely the rent will include at least part of the utility bills. Average waves for you employees are around 8000 bhat/month full time and 4000 bhat/month part time. They are cheaper outside Bangkok.
And here’s the bad news. Before even starting a business, you will need legal representation. Why? First of all, albeit contracts written in foreign languages are fully legal in Thailand, they take a back seat to contracts written in Thai. Second of all, while starting the business is cheap, there’s a ton of paperwork to be done, especially if you are a US citizen.
Lastly, and this is the really bad part, even if you fully own a business in Thailand, you will still need a work visa to work in it. Work visa in Thailand are 5000 baht a month minimum. That’s an inordinate amount of money. Many foreigners employ the trick of having their Thai partner (which is usually their wife) ostensibly running the business while micromanaging everything from behind the scenes: this is technically legal as you are “advising” your local partner as is your right and not working there. Practically speaking police controls are inexistant unless a report has been made to the authorities so many run the risk of just working in their own business without a visa. Be mindful however there have been cases of foreign business owners (mostly Chinese) who were taken out by their Thai competitors once they became “too successful” by reporting them to the authorities. The penalty is usually deportation but in some cases the business was confiscated and auctioned off by the authorities.
However the potential rewards for doing business in Thailand right now are so high as to make the hassle worth it: apart from work visa costs taxation is still reasonable and the country still hasn’t fallen prey to the tax and spend mentality of the West. Thais are growing wealthier each day.
May be worth a look.
Hmm, thank you for the information. Where would you say is the best place overall for a libertarian to live?
Is Thailand really a Third World Country?
Thailand’s royal family is anti-globalist as well, so you get some monarchist Hoppeoints (Hoppe-points?) there too.
I suppose then the thing to do would be to get Thai citizenship and then you’re home free.
you still have to learn muay thai so as not to get robbed by some youth kickboxing champion (or even young kickboxer)
Can you equalize the situation with a projectile weapon?
That’s the million-dollar question. I’ve been wondering that myself for awhile now.
Yes, myself aswell. I’ve seen some articles on Lew Rockwell’s website regarding best places for a libertarian to live, but that’s mainly regarding the most business-friendly countries. Problem is, there doesn’t seem to be any country that has a balance between the allowance of “personal” freedom and “economic” freedom. A country like Switzerland may be very business-friendly, and yet have conscription. Perhaps the best thing to do would be, I don’t know, become stateless?
Try Botswana.
It depends if you just want to live there (as a retiree) or you also want to work there.
After much searching I think the best place is the one where you get along better with local culture at personal level.
For example:
Singapore has ridiculously low taxation but from a personal freedom point of view it’s not the best place in the world.
Hong Kong is another great place as far as business is concerned and much better for personal freedom go but 1) you need plenty of capital to get started 2) you must really like living in a very packed city.
Chile has good taxation, good personal freedom and is very friendly to foreigners but if you have health issues it may not be the best place in the world: medical personnel is well trained and hospitals work well but unless you live in or very near a big city like Valparaiso treatment may be hundreds of miles away.
New Zealand has good taxation, good personal freedom (don’t believe the hullabaloo: Australia is actually worse) and, apart from food, life is very cheap. The downside is if you want to visit your relatives for Christmas you need to plan months in advance, it’s the skin cancer capital of the world (due to being located under a natural hole in the ozone layer) and earthquakes are a very common occurence.
I have been to Africa and I would recommend it only to my personal enemies (who wouldn’t ask me for recommendations ). The whole continent has actually got much worse since the '90s under all points of view and the only island of stability (and sanity), South Africa, is melting away. I will never set foot there again, no matter how much money I am offered or even if Charlize Theron offers me a date.
I have little knowledge of the so called “New Frontier”, places like Laos, Cambodia etc.
All in all the issue must be carefully weighed. Personally I would take slightly higher taxation over restrictions on personal freedom any day but if your plan is to make as much money as possible in the shortest time, Singapore may be the way to go, especially if you are into high tech.
Also consider the world is changing rapidly. If in 1980 I told any of you China was a great place to invest money, I would have been laughed out of the building, and rightly so. Who knows, may be in a few years Cuba or even Iran will be the next hot thing…
I see. Does Chile have gun control?
Most South American countries have very restrictive gun control legislation
Chile is no exception
Well, that’s no surprise I guess. And I know Hong Kong inherited gun control from the British way of governance, so…I guess the world is just a-bloomin’ with the gun control pestilence.
Yes, but it basically all boils down to how much you are ready to pay. Also if you buy a gun from a private citizen (and not from an armory) you get much less (if none) paperwork and hassle.
Compared to Europe, it’s a weapon heaven: for example according to Chilean law if you shoot an intruder (even unarmed) with a registered gun, it’s your right. For Americans it may not be much but for us Europeans being able to defend ourselves without being charged with assault or even murder (the latest trend of our wise overlords) it’s almost unconceivable.
The two main problems (for foreigners) for owning guns are this.
First it’s the weapon ownership test. It’s a bit weird and an inheritance of the Pinochet era. You have to go to a police station or an army post (the nearest to your residence), field strip the gun and name the components in Spanish. You need to do this on your own gun, so the only difficult part is learning the Spanish terms. If you buy a gun locally, the armorer will give you a crash course for free.
Second are costs. Weapons in Chile are expensive and choice is limited. This is because it’s such a small market and most proper armories are located in Santiago (and almost all are on Avenida General Bulnes and Avenida Vitacura). Chileans tend to be pretty conservative when it comes to weapons: for handguns the most common calibers are .38 Special, 9mm, .357, .44 Magnum and .45 ACP. You may have serious problems finding ammo and reloading supplies for other calibers but any country that allows me to use a .45 ACP to defend my property is fine in my book. Ammo are expensive due to limited supply: expect to pay a 50 rounds box $20 for 9mm and about $50 for .45 ACP.
Hunting is pretty popular in Chile and it’s done with an odd mixture of modern shotguns (Mossberg and Beretta being the local favorites) and old bolt action rifles, most of them Mauser.
There are many idiosyncracies in the Chilean system that can only be learned from expats living there or by talking to policemen. Different from many other nations, Chilean policemen are very friendly to gun owners and will walk you step by step through the procedure. Don’t rely on armorers for tips: many are known to provide false informations to customers on purpose. When in doubt, head to the carabineiros (police) and ask them. It’s unbelievable how different Chilean policemen are from their homologues in other countries.
That actually sounds very reasonable. I expect the situation in the U.S. to get worse, not better, unless Texas and other southern states secede.