Why is that impressive? Those two numbers in a vacuum tell us nothing at all. Why isn't the IRS making $50 for every $1 in their budget? Suppose we cut their b

Why is that impressive? Those two numbers in a vacuum tell us nothing at all. Why isn't the IRS making $50 for every $1 in their budget? Suppose we cut their budget by 50%, it's possible they've just been wasting money and now they'd make $8 for every $1 in their budget. Great! Suppose we double their budget. If they don't do anything differently they'll make only $2 for every $1 in their budget. etc etc. There must be some component of their budget that is the part of the IRS that goes after potentially fraudulent tax returns, and presumably increasing or decreasing it will have a yield effect, but your figures have zero to suggest what that is or where the point of diminishing returns may be. Broadly speaking, context-free numbers that don't actually imply anything (maybe more to the point cannot imply anything without more information) should be viewed with suspicion. :/