Quote of the Day

“..either immediately or ultimately every dollar of government spending must be raised through a dollar of taxation. Once we look at the matter. In this way, the supposed miracles of government spending will appear in another light.”
 
( Henry Hazlitt )

Comments

Jim said…
A similar analogy i like is used to define government subsidies and government spending.

"quietly filling a 100 gallon drum from a lake, carrying it to the other side, spilling 25 gallons on the way, then pouring it back in, in front of a large crowd, to a great fan fare about how its raising the water level.
Chris Whiteside said…
Quite. And the key point is that this doesn't just apply to the useful spending, but to the admin costs and everything else. So for every pound or dollar spent on something essential - providing a school or hospital, for instance - more than a pound or dollar has to be raised in tax.

That's why governments should concentrate on the collective tasks which have to be done by government, such as justice and security, and others where there is a particularly strong case for public provisions (in Britain almost everyone believes that there should be national provision of schools and hospitals) but must not try to directly provide everything which society needs. That way lies national bankruptcy.

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