Topic: Taxation

These Inequality Statistics are Fishy

– January 31, 2019

Given the high levels of uncertainty surrounding inequality measurement and ongoing improvements to each technique, common sense should caution us against adopting a sweeping tax code overhaul based on such an ambiguous and disputed statistical record.

Environmentalism, Taxation

Why A Carbon Tax Won’t Work in the Real World

– January 18, 2019

Carbon taxes may sound like an efficiency improvement in the abstract, but their political implementation is a mess.

Public Choice and Public Policy, Taxation

Targeted Tax Incentives: Perverse and Ineffective

– January 17, 2019

Often firms that receive these targeted incentives are subject to little or no accountability, and they rarely create the number of jobs or the hourly wage rates they promise.

Taxation

The Sneaky Ways that the Democratic House Can Raise Taxes

– January 11, 2019

The Democrats who just took control of the House of Representatives have already implemented changes to House rules so that if they decide to act on Ocasio-Cortez’s idea to jack up the top marginal tax rate to 70 percent, no procedural obstructions will block their way.

International, Taxation

France’s and Austria’s Digital Taxes Will Only Hurt Consumers

– January 11, 2019

While people in France and Austria might not be completely aware that this added tax will actually hurt them in the long run, authorities in those two countries should be reminded that the digital tax is nothing but an additional burden on the consumer; pretending the plan is about fairness will not fly.

Taxation

The Incredible Delusion of the 70% Tax Rate

– January 8, 2019

The collapse in confidence in government from 77% to 18% is one of the most striking changes in public philosophy of the last half century. To proceed as if this means nothing represents astonishing ideological blindness.

Taxation

The Rich Never Actually Paid 70 Percent

– January 7, 2019

The historical narrative we’ve been hearing is both simplistic and wrong. It relies upon a confusion between the statutory tax rate (i.e., the number that’s on the statute books) and the effective tax rate (i.e., the percentage of income that people actually pay once exemptions, deductions, and other tax-code incentives are accounted for).

Immigration, Taxation

GoFundMe for a Government Program?

– December 21, 2018

The GoFundMe campaign for the wall illustrates both the possibilities and the limitations of relying on voluntary revenue collection. Private efforts might be able to collect the money they need, but they will not and should not obtain the powers that government possesses to take away the people’s liberty and property.

Cryptocurrency, Taxation

What Ohio’s Tax Gimmick Really Means for the Blockchain Industry

– December 6, 2018

Regulatory uncertainty is one of the major risks facing the blockchain industry as it matures. Ohio’s courting of the industry throughout 2018 may have value beyond a handful of overblown headlines.

Socialism, Taxation

The Real Significance of the French Tax Revolt

– December 3, 2018

For two weeks in France, and now Belgium and the Netherlands, a European Spring has been building. What we see in Paris today might be the end of social democracy as we know it, and what comes in its place is what the battle of ideas today is really about.

Economic Theory, Taxation, Unemployment

A Bona Fide Tax Revolt in France

– November 26, 2018

Politicians and activists who blithely maintain that public support for lofty climate change projects is both bottomless and selfless are either obtuse or tacitly agitating for tyranny.

Free Markets, Taxation

The Ugly Truth About Amazon’s HQ2 Beauty Contest

– November 20, 2018

Amazon’s highly coveted HQ2 is probably a good deal for company and cities alike, but for the rest of us, it’s just another frustrating example of what happens when big business and big government join hands.