Comment by mothballed

Comment by mothballed 3 days ago

3 replies

I'm talking about from a practical perspective including respecting domestic privacy, not theoretical bests.

It is difficult to determine the value of a particular piece of land, particularly if it hasn't been sold for a long time and won't anytime soon.

International trade can much easier be priced, and there is no (additional) privacy concern because it all has to be declared anyway.

tomrod 3 days ago

Tariffs, unless hyperfocused, are dumb.

  • mothballed 3 days ago

    Indeed, but funding the level of government the constitution authorizes, which shouldn't cost more than a couple percent of GDP, their dumb-ness isn't enough to greatly distort the market and meanwhile there is very little additional overhead or intrusion vs other methods of taxation.

    • tomrod 2 days ago

      Consumption taxes are very distortive.