Comment by mmooss

8 months ago

Why do you say that? Without tariffs, the most efficient producer makes the good or service. With them, someone less efficient may make them.

Efficiency includes, but isn't only, waste and pollution.

You could say the same about progressive taxes. Without them, the most efficient do the work. With them, less efficient people below taxable income threshold will do more work.

  • That's the first valuable, novel insight I've heard about taxation in a long time. While I support progressive taxes for other reasons (fairness), I'd be interested in the economic impact.

    (The research would have to use overall tax rate, not just 'income' tax (i.e., wage tax).)

    • There was a time before income tax… and there maybe a future without income tax. Or you can think of income tax as profit sharing with everyone’s required partner big brother. Remember corporate tax and payroll taxes are flat. the progressive part of income tax is really more targeted at consumption. so it’s really more of a progressive consumption tax. It’s easy to arrange a delay in taxes if you don’t need to consume, and are willing to run a business.

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