Taxes Are A Price, Alright
6 November 2007
Editor, The Wall Street Journal
200 Liberty Street
New York, NY 10281
To the Editor:
Kelly Kennedy approvingly quotes Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.'s assertion that "Taxes are what we pay for a civilized society" (Letters, November 6). But Holmes was mistaken. Civilization progresses as it reduces resort to centralized direction and force and instead develops institutions, such as private property and markets, that increase the possibilities for productive, creative, and peaceful cooperation among individuals.
As Cato Institute president Ed Crane rightly remarks, "Taxes are actually the price we pay for our failure to create a civil society."
Sincerely,
Donald J. Boudreaux
Chairman, Department of Economics
George Mason University
Editor, The Wall Street Journal
200 Liberty Street
New York, NY 10281
To the Editor:
Kelly Kennedy approvingly quotes Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.'s assertion that "Taxes are what we pay for a civilized society" (Letters, November 6). But Holmes was mistaken. Civilization progresses as it reduces resort to centralized direction and force and instead develops institutions, such as private property and markets, that increase the possibilities for productive, creative, and peaceful cooperation among individuals.
As Cato Institute president Ed Crane rightly remarks, "Taxes are actually the price we pay for our failure to create a civil society."
Sincerely,
Donald J. Boudreaux
Chairman, Department of Economics
George Mason University
Posted by Don Boudreaux on
Friday April 25, 2008 at 5:34pm