When it comes to public policy, nothing could be more important. Sheldon Cohen, former IRS Commissioner, once said: "The Tax Code, once you get to know it, embodies all the essence of life: greed, politics, goodness, charity." Taxes can fund public goals - from cancer research to public education. Taxes can also be used to limit or punish certain behaviors - witness the Superfund polluter tax and the cigarette tax. And then there are the myriad tax loopholes and preferences embedded in the tax code forevermore, costing the public billions of dollars of lost revenue, but without the annual review that domestic programs must face each year by Congress.
Tax policy is, by function, subjective - Balancing efficiency and fairness - forget black and white - it's all shades of gray. Sadly, public discussion around taxes is usually long on rhetoric and short on substance. We hear the knee-jerk reaction of elected officials to establish their bonfides by promising to not raise taxes. Neo-con economists are quick to point out the economic inefficiencies that taxes produce - ergo, taxes should be avoided at all costs. The goal of this blog is to step away from these kinds of grand pronouncements and attempt to delve into those shades of gray.
2 comments:
I'd like to hear more about that thing you were telling me about a shift to a service-based economy along with the general tax exemption for services.
You bet - I'll post on that next week. Stay tuned!
Post a Comment