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I've always found it weird and funny that in many parts of Europe taxes used to be based on the width of the front of houses. That's why you'll find extremely n
by ajmurmann 5y ago
I've always found it weird and funny that in many parts of Europe taxes used to be based on the width of the front of houses. That's why you'll find extremely narrow houses in some older downtown areas. Cologne is an example of this.
As soon as the author started doing the math on street maintenance per lot, this medieval taxation system made instant sense to me (although I believe there also were taxes on windows...). Maybe something like this would be more beneficial. In general zoning that encourages density rather than discouraged it is definitely more in the interest of cities. Yet, most people get angry with me when I mention this.
- rebuilder 5y agoHistoric taxes like the window tax etc. were as much a result of the government having very limited access to economic data at the time as anything. You couldn't say how much someone was earning, but the size of their domicile was a pretty good indicator, and one they couldn't hide. Well, until the unexpected consequences, like fake windows, kicked in, anyway.
- ajmurmann 5y agoThat's an interesting point! I just listened to an interview with the founder of Give Directly on the Rationally Speaking podcast where he explained that they used to look at houses to identify if someone should get the direct cash donations. So again proxy for wealth