exactly. social phenomena in general are many orders more complex than physical phenomena for which mathematical models are generally deployed effectively. but

exactly. social phenomena in general are many orders more complex than physical phenomena for which mathematical models are generally deployed effectively. but even so, a zero- (e.g., a single tax rate) or quasi-first-order (like a limited number of tax brackets) model makes no sense, when we can much better fit the desired effect with a slightly higher-order function for only a small complexity trade-off. better fit means reducing the exploitation surface. tangentially, this is a relevant application of basic linear algebra and calculus to civics, which could be used as concrete motivation in the high school education of those subjects.