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Your last argument could be reduced to "if evil happens to me, why not make it happen to others". If taxing investment is bad let's agree not to do it, instead

by kukx 5y ago

Your last argument could be reduced to "if evil happens to me, why not make it happen to others". If taxing investment is bad let's agree not to do it, instead of perpetuating the abuse. And no, definitely not all money is productive and it can be easily wasted on worthless products and services. Taxing the tools to create value is not the same as taxing for example vodka.

wolverine876 5y ago
> Your last argument could be reduced to "if evil happens to me, why not make it happen to others". It's not evil. Taxes are not evil at all. I want a functioning government, including the services it provides. There's a trendy concept that all taxes are evil, but rationally that doesn't hold any water at all. > definitely not all money is productive and it can be easily wasted on worthless products and services. Taxing the tools to create value is not the same as taxing for example vodka. This undermines the free market, and basic freedom. I judge for myself, knowing my situation, the best place to spend my money. Sometimes vodka has the highest ROI, and don't forget that the money goes to the store which then spends it again. Macroeconomically, even if I gave the liquor store owner money for nothing, I haven't burnt the money. It's in new hands ready to be spent again (and the rate of transactions has a major impact on the economy). But yes, we still can make some judgments about what to tax, and investment in fact often gets a tax break.
- kukx 5y ago
  I did not say that taxes are evil per se, but bad taxes are bad. "This undermines the free market (...)" - yes taxes obviously affect the free market. They are often meant to skew (regulate) it, like tax that targets unhealthy products eg cigarrets. Also, the way we spend money is not neutral to the economy. By buying one product over another we send an important signal about what is valuable. If we, as a sociaty choose junk, we will get more junk, if we choose good products, we will get even better products in the future. I recommend you read about "the broken window fallacy", since it is related.

by kukx 5y ago

wolverine876 5y ago

> Your last argument could be reduced to "if evil happens to me, why not make it happen to others". It's not evil. Taxes are not evil at all. I want a functioning government, including the services it provides. There's a trendy concept that all taxes are evil, but rationally that doesn't hold any water at all. > definitely not all money is productive and it can be easily wasted on worthless products and services. Taxing the tools to create value is not the same as taxing for example vodka. This undermines the free market, and basic freedom. I judge for myself, knowing my situation, the best place to spend my money. Sometimes vodka has the highest ROI, and don't forget that the money goes to the store which then spends it again. Macroeconomically, even if I gave the liquor store owner money for nothing, I haven't burnt the money. It's in new hands ready to be spent again (and the rate of transactions has a major impact on the economy). But yes, we still can make some judgments about what to tax, and investment in fact often gets a tax break.

kukx 5y ago
I did not say that taxes are evil per se, but bad taxes are bad. "This undermines the free market (...)" - yes taxes obviously affect the free market. They are often meant to skew (regulate) it, like tax that targets unhealthy products eg cigarrets. Also, the way we spend money is not neutral to the economy. By buying one product over another we send an important signal about what is valuable. If we, as a sociaty choose junk, we will get more junk, if we choose good products, we will get even better products in the future. I recommend you read about "the broken window fallacy", since it is related.