What Was The Initial Deadweight Loss?

Jeremiah Dyke — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 07:58:09 GMT

There is something wrong with my thinking here, but here it goes

To claim there is a deadweight loss, i.e. to collect resources a government must spend resources, is to engage in an infinite regress that can only end with an initial volunteer of expropriation.

For example, a government must spend resources, to collect resources, yet it can only spend what resources it has already collected since by definition a government cannot create resources. Thus, if you continue this regress you will eventually find that the original resource used to collect resources was an individual’s labor. Therefore, what was the first deadweight loss? Was it a individual who decided steal vs.produce? But theft is merely a transfer; it is only when individuals use up resources to prevent theft that you would consider a social loss. Where is the hiccup in my logic?

Economics Questions

What Was The Initial Deadweight Loss?