On Fri, Apr 26, 2002 at 09:12:53AM -0400, Robin Hanson wrote: > If the reason that government gets bigger as taxes become more efficient > is that most people have a downward-sloping demand for government, and > so "buy" more of it as the price gets lower, then it seems paternalistic > of me to keep the price artificially high, just because my demand is less.
Government can get bigger if whoever is in control of the government forces the rest of the population to pay for it. Even if a majority of people want bigger government, the losses suffered by the minority can more than make up for the gains of the majority. > I'd like to have a reputation as a neutral economic advisor, who will > advise people on how to get what they want, even if what they want isn't > what I would prefer them to want. Why would you want a reputation for being willing to advise people even when it's against your self interest, or your analysis of social welfare, to do so? I mean, I can see why you would want a reputation for always providing honest advice when you agree to do it, but why would you want to be known for never turning down a request for advice? What if a slave owner asked you how to improve the productivity of his slaves? Would you answer him? > >Also, labor supply curves tend to bend backwards at high incomes, so > >perhaps we should subsidize instead of tax the non-work time of > >high-income people? > > I don't follow this argument. It was more of a question than an argument, but I figured out that the answer is no.
