The new Scottish first minister calls for the corporate tax to be slashed to a very Irish 12.5%. Lower corporate tax means a few things – companies don’t try to avoid it by hiring expensive accountants or even moving, and companies have more money to either distribute (most shareholders aren’t rich) or reinvest (creating more jobs, et cetera).

And lower tax does not necessarily mean less government revenue – more productive companies simply makes more money. More money to invest certainly helps in that area.

Malaysia on the other hand has one of the highest corporate tax rate in the region – 28%. That, and various other costs to business like the Bumiputra policy, heavy-handed regulation like price controls, is keeping Malaysia behind as countries like Singapore and Vietnam surges ahead.