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Who is going to classify all zillions of goods offered by a modern market economy into “basic” vs “non-basic” necessities? Is triple-ply toilet paper basic? Wha
by Sharlin 5y ago
Who is going to classify all zillions of goods offered by a modern market economy into “basic” vs “non-basic” necessities? Is triple-ply toilet paper basic? What about bananas? Beef? Coffee? A cellphone? A smartphone? After all, modern life is increasingly difficult without a Web terminal of some sort. Some luxuries become necessities over the years. It’s just utterly impossible to draw a line.
- miltondts 5y agoAt least in Portugal, this is done in the form of lower taxes. Essential goods are at 6% VAT and the rest is 23%. Yes it's not perfect, but unlike how you paint this issue, it's far from difficult to implement.
- Sharlin 5y agoHmm. In Finland all foodstuffs (apart from alcohol) have the same reduced VAT rate, which is somewhat easy to arrange but of course doesn’t exactly match the essential/luxury division very well. Everything from noodles to caviar has the same reduced VAT rate. Anyway, whether something costs 1.06x or 1.23x is not a vast difference, so VAT brackets can be a useful tool, crude as they are. It’s quite a different story when it’s about something being literally free or not. You also have the problem of deciding how to ration all of those free goods, given that market forces aren’t there to control demand.
- colordrops 5y agoI was thinking stronger measures, e.g. you get free housing and basic utilities (with caps) if you want, and UBI for food and other basic necessities. Beyond that is up to you.