Re:Why Inequality Matters
by crdoconnor on Thursday October 16, 2014 @10:48AM
(#8465161)
It's a mistake to think that states 'spend' your taxes. They don't really.
It helps to think of states as machines that print money which they spend at one end and run an incinerator into which they put all of your taxes at the other.
The clear implication of this is that:
* Spending is inflationary
* Taxes are there to clamp down on inflation.
* Taxes are there to change behavior in a socially conscious way (e.g. tax cigarettes to reduce smoking // tax breaks for wind farms).
Your cash is debt. It is not something you own like a house. It is a social relationship subject to intermediation by the government under democratic oversight.
It helps to think of states as machines that print money which they spend at one end and run an incinerator into which they put all of your taxes at the other.
The clear implication of this is that:
* Spending is inflationary
* Taxes are there to clamp down on inflation.
* Taxes are there to change behavior in a socially conscious way (e.g. tax cigarettes to reduce smoking // tax breaks for wind farms).
Your cash is debt. It is not something you own like a house. It is a social relationship subject to intermediation by the government under democratic oversight.