> That means that if I pay $1000 in tax, or buy bottles of whiskey for $950 and drink them all, I have made the same contribution to the economy. No, that woul

> That means that if I pay $1000 in tax, or buy bottles of whiskey for $950 and drink them all, I have made the same contribution to the economy. No, that would be just bad accounting. If you pay $1000 in tax, then there's $1000 less currency. If you consume $1000 in goods, then while there's less of the good, there's likely some profits through the supply chain and anyway the currency goes to the people who supplied the good and exists for them to use again. But the rest of what you are saying is true. The question about spending is always what do we spend on…