I have three scenarios for you. Your job is to tell me which one involves imposing an externality (a cost on other people) and which one does not. A runs a factory on A’s land. A pollutes an unowned piece of neighboring land called X so badly that it is now impossible for anyone to… Continue reading Pick the Externality!
Author: Matt Bruenig
Section 8 Vouchers and the Myth of Ownership
Nothing inherently belongs to anyone. What belongs to who is always a function of policy and the way they construct our economic institutions. Accordingly, all incomes are, at a basic level, politically determined. So, you should not act like some kind of baseline (pre-tax market income for instance) demarcates everyone’s true income, with all other… Continue reading Section 8 Vouchers and the Myth of Ownership
One last note on “redistribution”
Following the interaction that culminated in my doing a small survey of wonkblog posts to see how they use the word “redistribution,” there has been more discussing going on. Mike Konczal has this post about redistribution, which builds on a sports metaphor I first saw him unveil on twitter a short while ago. I don’t… Continue reading One last note on “redistribution”
Horizontal Equity and Pay It Forward
Horizontal equity is the idea that people with the same incomes should pay the same taxes. I’ve made some remarks here and there about horizontal equity when trying to explain my view on Pay It Forward. Pay It Forward is a way of funding free higher education by imposing a flat tax on college graduates.… Continue reading Horizontal Equity and Pay It Forward
No seriously, there is no non-political definition of “theft”
The correct view on the naturalness of distribution is that it isn’t natural. Who gets what is all made up and we can make it up how we want. That’s not to say it’s all arbitrary and all ways of doing it are equal. It is to say that you have to come up with… Continue reading No seriously, there is no non-political definition of “theft”