Matt Nolan

Series on tax: Part 2 – distortions and burden

/6 Comments/in , , /by

Over at Rates Blog I have put up part 2 or a 6 part series on tax (it was going to be 5 but I’ve extended it.  In part 1 we asked “why do we tax“.  In part 2 we are digging deeper into the costs of taxation.

We focus on two specific issues, the way taxes distort behaviour, and the idea of where the burden of tax falls.  As we explained in the first article these issues are really really difficult to actually work out – and the purpose of the second argument is just to give a “flavour” to the argument.  In honesty, if you wanted to figure out the true burden and distortions you’ll have to get yourselve a series of these CGE modeling economists armed with other economists who focus on normative judgments.

Last time I promised to discuss tax systmes that seem idea, that we don’t use.  And why we don’t.  Well, that is now the next article.

Also, thanks to Agnitio who helped me clear up this article.  It is a fairly wonkish one, and he came in at the last minute and helped me clarify what the hang I was doing 😉

You might also like
Series on tax: Part 1 - why?
Series on tax: Part 5 - A primer on consumption tax
Series on tax: Part seven - externalities
Series on tax: Part 2b - let's experiment with explanations
Series on tax: Part 3 - poll taxes, ability taxes, and fairness considerations
Series on tax: Part 8, inflation and tax
Series on tax: Part six - where progressivity fits in
Series on tax: Part 4 - A primer on income taxes
6 replies

Trackbacks & Pingbacks

  1. Series on tax: Part 4 – A primer on income taxes | The Dismal Science says:
    June 12, 2013 at 12:03

    […] 4 of the series on tax I’m popping together.  Here are the blog posts linking to part 1, part 2, part 2b, and part 3.  I would note this will at least be an eight part series, instead of six […]

  2. Series on tax: Part 4 – A primer on income taxes | TVHE says:
    June 11, 2013 at 10:40

    […] 4 of the series on tax I’m popping together.  Here are the blog posts linking to part 1, part 2, part 2b, and part 3.  I would note this will at least be an eight part series, instead of six […]

  3. Series on tax: Part 3 – poll taxes, ability taxes, and fairness considerations | The Dismal Science says:
    May 31, 2013 at 10:04

    […] of the six part thing I’m writing about tax.  Over here, we’ve blogged on part 1 and part 2, and added a part 2b for […]

  4. Series on tax: Part 3 – poll taxes, ability taxes, and fairness considerations | TVHE says:
    May 28, 2013 at 15:18

    […] of the six part thing I’m writing about tax.  Over here, we’ve blogged on part 1 and part 2, and added a part 2b for […]

  5. Series on tax: Part 2b – let’s experiment with explanations | The Dismal Science says:
    May 21, 2013 at 10:02

    […] the second part of my series on taxation I wrote about distortion and burden.  But I’m not sure whether my description about wedges and how people respond to prices was […]

  6. Series on tax: Part 2b – let’s experiment with explanations | TVHE says:
    May 20, 2013 at 08:02

    […] the second part of my series on taxation I wrote about distortion and burden.  But I’m not sure whether my description about wedges and how people respond to prices was […]

Comments are closed.