A professor from the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh has an interesting column in his local paper’s site. In his own words, he favors “a progressive tax system that allows us to pool our resources to acquire goods and services we couldn’t afford otherwise.”
To reinforce his point, he pays $9,000 in property, income, and sales taxes, and puts a value of $58,700 on services he receives from the government.
All well and good, but there are holes in his argument:
–Taxes are not the only way to pool resources. Regarding police protection, he says, “Of course you could get together with nine of your neighbors and cut [the cost] to $21,900. But wouldn’t that be pooling resources like with taxes?” Does he really think coercive taxation is the only way people will pool their resources? If this were so, we would not have private groups, firms, or associations of any kind. Since these things do in fact exist, there has to be a flaw in the professor’s reasoning. A big one, in this case.
–He understates his expenses. He paid a lot more than just property, income and sales taxes. We have gas taxes, excise taxes, utility taxes, you name it. He also pays corporate taxes on everything he buys; companies pass on their costs to their customers. We consumers pay for every cent of corporate tax.
–He overstates his benefits. He compares the local $4,100/year private school to the local public school (typically $9,000+/year), as though they generate the same quality of education.
Sloppy reasoning all around.
Inertia Wins! 