Re:Seattle Poised to Repeal Tax on Amazon and Large Employers
by Armisael16 on Tuesday June 12, 2018 @10:30AM
(#17293561)
“What should the government tax?”, “How much should the government collect in taxes?”, and “What should the government spend money on?” are all distinct questions. “You should tax what you want less of” is a statement related almost solely to the first question; helping those without is mostly related to the third question.
No one in the US argues that taxing something reduces the amount of it that (legally) occurs.
Re:Seattle Poised to Repeal Tax on Amazon and Large Employers
by projectramo on Tuesday June 12, 2018 @10:27AM
(#17293515)
No, I am certainly not engaging in that debate.
I am not suggesting taxing or not taxing, or lowering or raising the tax.
I am advocating a change in the form of the tax.
This preserves the moral imperative.
So its not the behavioral effects of the policy that are confusing the philosophical argument, it is the philosophical argument confusing the study of the effects.
You said you this matter or factly, but it's a core point in the debate between left and right political economics, at least in America. The demotivating effects of taxes are said to be offset by the moral imperative for those with to help those without. The amount of relative positive and negative added by each policy is difficult to quantify, confusing the already difficult philosophical argument.