Economics Questions

Re: What is the least harmful form of taxation?

Lord Edward Coke — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 22:40:16 GMT

I like it. If you must have a STATE let it be composed of volunteers.

http://www.theadvocates.org/quiz_result?e=100&i=100_100.gif&p=100

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Re: What is the least harmful form of taxation?

Live_Free_Or_Die — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 07:08:01 GMT

If taxing X reduces X then,

I am for taxing the state, taxing anyone employed by the state, taxing anyone associated with the state, or taxing anyone that has any kind of nexus with the state.

Re: What is the least harmful form of taxation?

Joe — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 04:51:15 GMT

Chris:

The assessment should be done by a third-party to prevent government abuse.

contacting out to a 'third party' is the equivalent to replacing Communism with Fascism.

Re: What is the least harmful form of taxation?

Lord Edward Coke — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 01:17:31 GMT

10 points for you! Tax is not just a burden, it is a theft. The Scriptures state ''Thou shall not steal.''

Because of the use of a legal 'term' or art, people are deceived to veiw it as otherwise.

If you must have a tax, voluntary is the only one. That is done by lottery. A national lottery would give you the option of the tax or not.

Would you contribute $1 dollar for the chance to have $500 million? I can chose to play or refrain.........VOLUNTARY.

Re: What is the least harmful form of taxation?

Em_ptySkin — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 03:37:41 GMT

income is tax on labor not consumption, which is the opposite end of the specturm. i prefaced my point by stating CONUMPTION, but i do see your point.

Re: What is the least harmful form of taxation?

SirThinkALot — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 23:36:55 GMT

I'm going with a sales/consumption tax, or maybe tarrifs(assuming they arent enacted specifically for protectionist purposes). Taxes that discouage consumption and encourage savings/investment are almost always prefered to income or capital gains taxes

Re: What is the least harmful form of taxation?

Chris — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 21:35:56 GMT

An expropriating private property right protector is a contradictory of terms. Something that contradicts itself cannot be true. Do you agree with this fundamental law of logic?

The alternative is for the government to neglect to protect property if the tax is not paid, in the same way a security firm would stop showing up if you stopped paying them. I wonder about protecting life and liberty, though. If someone doesn't pay their taxes, does the justice system not protect them from assault or involuntary servitude?

Re: What is the least harmful form of taxation?

Clayton — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 19:28:31 GMT

@DD5: Precisely - there is no such thing as a voluntary tax... it really is a classic example of an oxymoron. It's like gentle, loving murder. Just doesn't make any sense at all.

Clayton -

Re: What is the least harmful form of taxation?

DD5 — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 18:15:17 GMT

Jacob:
If we are ONLY taxed on outr consumption then every tax is voluntary.

So an income tax is also voluntary since nobody is forcing you to work and earn an income. What is wrong with this reasoning? Same as in yours.

Re: What is the least harmful form of taxation?

Em_ptySkin — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 18:12:35 GMT

Consumption Tax. If we are ONLY taxed on outr consumption then every tax is voluntary. I still think it is basically unfair, but if we must exchange thoughts with in terms of mainstreamonomics....

Re: What is the least harmful form of taxation?

DD5 — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 18:11:14 GMT

Chris:
Mind you, I think that obligatory taxes should be limited to paying for the protection of natural rights, which I think is the proper role of government.

An expropriating private property right protector is a contradictory of terms. Something that contradicts itself cannot be true. Do you agree with this fundamental law of logic?

Re: What is the least harmful form of taxation?

Chris — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 17:56:02 GMT

You should read Rothabard's Power & Market. The property tax, especially a general one, can be and is a very destructive tax.

I certainly will. I've been slowly tackling economics texts, but I can only take on so much at a time. Mind you, I think that obligatory taxes should be limited to paying for the protection of natural rights, which I think is the proper role of government. So, taxes would pay for a police force (and possibly fund a militia). Any other service which a locality deems valuable to be provided by the government should be paid for with user fees.

If you're going to allow people to pay or not pay these fees (since you don't call them taxes), then why not have them work for profit also, and if they operate for profit, why not remove the coercive monpoly priveleges and open thesese services for competion so we can actually have proof for their service?

As I mentioned above, services provided by a government should be determined by the locality. I see no reason why a private enterprise couldn't successfully compete with a government enterprise which is entirely funded by user fees. Ultimately, I don't think that governments can compete with private enterprise when competing on equal ground, so private enterprise will likely snuff out government competition.

Re: What is the least harmful form of taxation?

DD5 — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 16:29:30 GMT

Chris:
I think that paying taxes on the land you own could be seen as a cost of ownership,

You should read Rothabard's Power & Market. The property tax, especially a general one, can be and is a very destructive tax.

Chris:

Most government services should be funded by service fees rather than by direct taxation.

If you're going to allow people to pay or not pay these fees (since you don't call them taxes), then why not have them work for profit also, and if they operate for profit, why not remove the coercive monpoly priveleges and open thesese services for competion so we can actually have proof for their service?

Re: What is the least harmful form of taxation?

Chris — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 15:55:33 GMT

The assessment should be done by a third-party to prevent government abuse.

As for the freedom aspect, protection of property is the reason that people collectivize to begin with - so the tribe next door doesn't raid and plunder your village. I don't think that anyone who doesn't own property should be able to make decisions on how much to tax property owners, though. Hence, only property owners should be able to vote on issues related to property tax. Perhaps in rural areas, no tax would be necessary at all and property owners would be responsible for protecting their own property.

I think that paying taxes on the land you own could be seen as a cost of ownership, like maintaining a fence, mowing your grass, or fixing a leaking roof. It seems reasonable to me that a community may ask someone to leave who doesn't contribute to its defense - you can't get something for nothing, after all. I'd suggest dealing with this situation by the government paying the people for the assessed value of their property minus what was owed in back-taxes and then reselling the property.

The bottom line, however, is that taxes should be low enough not to be burdonsome. Most government services should be funded by service fees rather than by direct taxation.

Re: What is the least harmful form of taxation?

Joe — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 03:49:41 GMT

but of course the gov't itself decides how much your property is worth. Also, in a world where property tax is seen as legit, there can't be any private property. All property is really rented from the government.