What's Fair?
4 August 2008
Editor, The Wall Street Journal
200 Liberty Street
New York, NY 10281
To the Editor:
Your editorial page today offers much evidence of the incessant talk about tax "fairness." But the issue is far more difficult than most people suppose - and more serious than pontificating politicians pretend it to be. In the early 1990s economist Steven Landsburg showed why by asking a simple question:
"Suppose that Jack and Jill draw equal amounts of water from a community well. Jack's income is $10,000, of which he is taxed 10%, or $1,000, to support the well. Jill's income is $100,000, of which she is taxed 5%, or $5,000, to support the well. In which direction is the policy unfair?"
An honest person will admit that this question has no indisputably right answer. Prof. Landsburg then asked "If I can't tell what's fair in a world of two people and one well, how can I tell what's fair in a country with 250 million people and tens of thousands of government services?"*
If only politicians were so honest and humble.
Sincerely,
Donald J. Boudreaux
Chairman, Department f Economics
George Mason University
Fairfax, VA 22030
* Steven E. Landsburg, The Armchair Economist (New York: The Free Press, 1993), p. 49.
Editor, The Wall Street Journal
200 Liberty Street
New York, NY 10281
To the Editor:
Your editorial page today offers much evidence of the incessant talk about tax "fairness." But the issue is far more difficult than most people suppose - and more serious than pontificating politicians pretend it to be. In the early 1990s economist Steven Landsburg showed why by asking a simple question:
"Suppose that Jack and Jill draw equal amounts of water from a community well. Jack's income is $10,000, of which he is taxed 10%, or $1,000, to support the well. Jill's income is $100,000, of which she is taxed 5%, or $5,000, to support the well. In which direction is the policy unfair?"
An honest person will admit that this question has no indisputably right answer. Prof. Landsburg then asked "If I can't tell what's fair in a world of two people and one well, how can I tell what's fair in a country with 250 million people and tens of thousands of government services?"*
If only politicians were so honest and humble.
Sincerely,
Donald J. Boudreaux
Chairman, Department f Economics
George Mason University
Fairfax, VA 22030
* Steven E. Landsburg, The Armchair Economist (New York: The Free Press, 1993), p. 49.
Posted by Don Boudreaux on
Sunday November 16, 2008 at 1:07pm