is affordability really the unit-of-analysis that you want to use to design (or make tweaks to) a tax system? lets assume that $50k per year gives a comfortabl

is affordability really the unit-of-analysis that you want to use to design (or make tweaks to) a tax system? lets assume that $50k per year gives a comfortable lifestyle to a person. anyone earning less than 50k per year cant afford to pay taxes and therefore doesnt have to. anyone earning more than 50k can certainly afford it, so they pay the amount needed to get there income to 50k. so a guy who makes 60k pays 10k per year, and a guy who earns 1MM pays 950k. do you think entrepreneurs would start businesses in this environment? sure, some would because they are doing what they love... but what about all those boring businesses. do you think the dry cleaner LOVES to wash other people's clothes? do you think the guy who started 1-800-GOT-JUNK loves other people's trash? among other things, you need to think about incentives (and the killing of those incentives) when you devise a tax system.