Dom post article: The technocrat’s tax

4 comments

2 pings

1. 

   Hompeaddock

   February 28, 2009 at 11:24 pm (UTC 12)

   One good thing about government’s setting tax trates is that we can vote for or against them every three years. We wouldn’t have that power over an independent body.

   One good thing about an independent body setting tax rates is that they might do what’s right rather than what’s popular because they wouldn’t have to face voters.

2. 

   Matt Nolan

   March 1, 2009 at 8:55 am (UTC 12)

   “One good thing about government’s setting tax trates is that we can vote for or against them every three years. We wouldn’t have that power over an independent body.”

   But the body sets taxes based on spending – we elect a government based on the amount they spend, and thereby implicitly we elect the level of our taxes as well

3. 

   Brad Taylor

   March 2, 2009 at 5:42 pm (UTC 12)

   “One good thing about government’s setting tax trates is that we can vote for or against them every three years. We wouldn’t have that power over an independent body.”

   Responsiveness to public opinion can lead to bad policy if the public votes expressively. I suspect we’d be in much worse shape today without central bank independence.

4. 

   Matt Nolan

   March 3, 2009 at 10:56 am (UTC 12)

   “Responsiveness to public opinion can lead to bad policy”

   Or even if the public is time inconsistent.

   However, we need to balance this with the fact that we do need some mechanism to reveal the preferences of society …

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