I was interviewed on KCBS in San Francisco last Thursday while I was at my cottage in Canada. It’s just over 3 minutes.
Here’s the link.
In it, I referred to the 1960s” “chicken tax,” which Michael Hammock wrote about on Econlib back in March 2016.
Jul 16 2019
War crimes trials often weigh on the consciences of the conscientious. Aren't such proceedings mere "victor's justice"? The hypocrisy is usually palpable; after all, how often does either side in a violent conflict walk away with clean hands? Unsurprisingly, then, one of defendants' favorite legal strategies is t...
Jul 14 2019
In the past, I've made three arguments about utilitarianism: 1. It's the correct moral system. 2. It's the way the world is trending. 3. It's consistent with classical liberalism. I used examples such as the prohibition on the sale of kidneys, an anti-utilitarian policy that is likely to be repealed at some poi...
Jul 14 2019
I was interviewed on KCBS in San Francisco last Thursday while I was at my cottage in Canada. It's just over 3 minutes. Here's the link. In it, I referred to the 1960s" "chicken tax," which Michael Hammock wrote about on Econlib back in March 2016.
READER COMMENTS
Richard A.
Jul 14 2019 at 7:39pm
Too many of our politicians like to emphasize that we only have a 2.5% tariff on autos while forgetting to mention the 25% tariff on light trucks. Japan got rid of its tariffs on autos around 1979.
Mark Z
Jul 15 2019 at 1:42am
Two of the companies targeted provide their primary services for free (I suppose why they went for a revenue tax). These are companies with comparatively large consumer surpluses, which the French government doesn’t seem to be taking into account. They also had the gall to make the tax retroactive for 2019.
I enjoyed the French economic minister’s justification though: “Tech giants have the money,” French Economy and Finance Minister Bruno Le Marie said in December, “and they make big profits thanks to French consumers.” I wasn’t surprised to learn his degree was in French literature rather than economics.
Jon Murphy
Jul 15 2019 at 8:14am
Very good stuff. I especially enjoyed your point at the end viz. the chicken tax. When I taught International Trade (Econ 390) and International Economic Policy (Econ 385) last Fall at GMU, when discussing various arguments for exceptions to free trade, I emphasized that case. Yes, we can come up theoritical exceptions, but the political process is not flexible and once interests get entrenched, it’s hard to loosen them. Indeed, that is one of the main reasons I am skeptical of anything along the lines of “managed” trade policy, whether it be retaliatory tariffs, “optimal” tariffs, TAA, etc.
Alan Goldhammer
Jul 15 2019 at 3:18pm
Yet another misguided attempt at the ‘Willie Sutton’ approach to tax policy! I think David is correct that it will be easy to figure out the tax on Amazon but Google and Facebook will be more complicated. One thing is for sure, this will lead to complicated accounting for web companies that rely on advertising revenue.
Jon Murphy
Jul 15 2019 at 4:36pm
I am not familiar with this phrasing.
David Henderson
Jul 16 2019 at 7:26am
Bank robber Willie Sutton was asked why he robbed banks. He replied, “Because that’s where the money is.”
Jon Murphy
Jul 16 2019 at 7:53am
Ahhh. So you tax Facebook because that’s where the money is. I get it now. Thanks!
Alan Goldhammer
Jul 16 2019 at 7:55am
Sorry, I thought Willie Sutton was so much of an American icon that the term would have been familiar to blog readers.
Jon Murphy
Jul 16 2019 at 10:27am
And he probably is. Just a gap in my knowledge 🙂
Comments are closed.