>From Harry Veeder
>>Stephen A. Lawrence wrote:
>>Remember the Laffer curve debates, years back? At 0% income tax the
>>government's net tax revenue is zero. At 100% income tax nobody works
>>for taxable dollars and again the government's tax take is zero. So,
>>the _maximum_ tax take is achieved at some tax rate L, with 0 L 100.
>>The curve which relates government tax revenue to tax rate is called
>>the Laffer curve, and its peak is the optimal tax rate for maximum
>>government income.
>
>A 100% income tax would make for a simple flat tax system, and as long
>as a significant fraction of EARNED income is returned by law people would
>continue to work for taxable dollars.
>
>Harry
This reminds me of a cartoon that is just as timely today as it was when I first saw it. It was posted on a bulletin board of a place I used to work at - The Wisconsin Department of Revenue. This was many decades ago when I was a mere pup in my 20s.
It was the new simplified tax return form. Only two lines to fill in:
*************************************************
* (1) How much money did you make? [ ] *
*************************************************
* (2) Send it in. [ ] *
*************************************************
Regards,
Steven Vincent Johnson
www.OrionWorks.com
I saw that joke recently.
A market economy with private property rights and flexible prices
can be rationally defended on the grounds that it is the best way to produce
_real_ wealth. However, if I remember correctly, even the great
market economist F. Hayek conceded that the workings
of a market economy do not provide a rational basis for judging
whether a particular person's _monetary_ income is _deserved_.
Harry
