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The progressive / regressive terminology takes it for granted that income is the right denominator to measure against, rather than consumption, which is not obv
by evanpw 7y ago
The progressive / regressive terminology takes it for granted that income is the right denominator to measure against, rather than consumption, which is not obvious in my opinion.
- chongli 7y agoAre you implying that consumption is a bad thing and we should discourage it? That would put consumption taxes in the category of Pigovian taxes [1] in your eyes. If that is the case, and other sales tax supporters agree with you, then it's not obvious from this discussion. In my experience, it's generally been the case that rich people are anti-consumption, at least on a personal level. Poor people often splurge on luxuries to relieve some of the pressure of grinding poverty. They buy things to signal status in order to attract a partner. A sales tax on luxuries like this is effectively a wealth transfer from the poor to the rich, not altogether dissimilar to government-run lotteries which fund scholarships. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pigovian_tax https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pigovian_tax
- unreal37 7y agoHe simply said "perhaps consumption is a better way to tax people than income." Which is quite the opposite of what you think he said.