No, High Taxes Are Not A Good Thing!
Drivel Masquerading As Informed Comment
One of the reasons for this blog is to counter some of the drivel that passes for "informed comment" in the media.
A prime example comes from Ross Gittins' column in today's "Sydney Morning Herald" - Ponder Higher Taxes at Your Leisure.
Gittins loses no opportunity to promote the twin ideas that bigger government spending is both inevitable and a good thing, with the corollary that high (and higher) taxes are also a good thing. The gist of the article today is that we are all vain and silly creatures who fritter away our increased income on frivolous items of conspicuous consumption (keeping up with the Joneses, in other words). So high taxes are a good thing, saving us from ourselves!
Let's leave aside for the moment the whole issue of whether any government spending (and hence taxes) is justified apart from what's required for defence of the realm and to maintain law and order.
What about the possibility that people have to work so hard because government confiscates so much of our income. What about the idea that we might actually have a more leisurely life if we didn't have to support our "silent partner" with half our income?
To see how utterly idiotic Gittins is, let's conduct a little thought experiment. If the current high level of taxes is actually good, why not increase them? Won't that mean we will then work less and actually be happier as we all live in genteel poverty?
Actually, there's a good example of what would happen. New Zealand back in the early 1980s where the top marginal rate of personal tax was in excess of 80%, I recall. Readers might recall what NZ was like back then. Isolated, with a stagnant and backward economy. The place was sliding slowly into (genteel) oblivion.
Gittins is supposed to be the economics editor. Instead of providing informed comment, he uses his column to push an agenda of collectivism and statism.
One of the reasons for this blog is to counter some of the drivel that passes for "informed comment" in the media.
A prime example comes from Ross Gittins' column in today's "Sydney Morning Herald" - Ponder Higher Taxes at Your Leisure.
Gittins loses no opportunity to promote the twin ideas that bigger government spending is both inevitable and a good thing, with the corollary that high (and higher) taxes are also a good thing. The gist of the article today is that we are all vain and silly creatures who fritter away our increased income on frivolous items of conspicuous consumption (keeping up with the Joneses, in other words). So high taxes are a good thing, saving us from ourselves!
Let's leave aside for the moment the whole issue of whether any government spending (and hence taxes) is justified apart from what's required for defence of the realm and to maintain law and order.
What about the possibility that people have to work so hard because government confiscates so much of our income. What about the idea that we might actually have a more leisurely life if we didn't have to support our "silent partner" with half our income?
To see how utterly idiotic Gittins is, let's conduct a little thought experiment. If the current high level of taxes is actually good, why not increase them? Won't that mean we will then work less and actually be happier as we all live in genteel poverty?
Actually, there's a good example of what would happen. New Zealand back in the early 1980s where the top marginal rate of personal tax was in excess of 80%, I recall. Readers might recall what NZ was like back then. Isolated, with a stagnant and backward economy. The place was sliding slowly into (genteel) oblivion.
Gittins is supposed to be the economics editor. Instead of providing informed comment, he uses his column to push an agenda of collectivism and statism.
posted by Kevin Francis at
9:04 am
