The Adventures of Andrew Maurer

I’ve come to realize that tax policy is more a field of philosophy than anything else. In the end, the question boils down to what we want to be the goals of society. Do we go by an “only as good as the worst off” attitude, or do we go by “GDP above all”; do we see equity and fairness as the primary issue or efficiency? Do we want our society to have higher production than all others; do we want the highest utility per capita; or do we want to reward the more productive (and in what proportion)? In economics, the most efficient and most equitable methods of taxation can be derived, but when push comes to shove, taxation is of normative importance.

The problem is that methods of taxation are implemented by politicians and not economists. Populism and the common ignorance tend to steer society in a non-optimal manner. The system is flawed. It is the job of philosophers and the intelligent to solve, not the drones.