I’d be willing to wager that a majority of the people who hold the view that, “money doesn’t make you happier, you certainly cannot eat it,” also support a variety of protectionist measures. You know, putting heavy taxes on Chinese tires to make sure American workers keep their higher incomes, or putting heavy taxes on Brazilian (sugar based) ethanol to protect the incomes of American corn farmers, and so forth. After all, this modern incarnation of mercantilist ideas is based on the fact that having more dollars is better than having fewer. But I ask, can you still hold both views logically? If not, what then can we make of the case for Progressive taxation?
Protectionist Smell Test
Sep 29th, 2009 by wintercow20