By Eric Pichet The Revue of the Droit FiscalVol. 14, p. 5, April 2007
Abstract:
Despite attempts to “eliminate” the French wealth tax, the “solidarity wealth tax,” during the last parliament (2002-2007), ISF revenues soared from €2.5 billion in 2002 to €3.6 billion by 2006. An analysis of the economic impact of this ISF wealth tax leads to the following conclusions: The costs of collection remain low (about 1.6% of revenues); The failure to raise the threshold in line with inflation between 1998 and 2004 provided the French government with an extra €400 million in revenues in 2004 alone; ISF fraud, which mainly involves the undervaluation of real estate assets, has stabilized over time at about 28% of total revenues, equivalent to the government’s shortfall of €700 million in 2004 (if the legal framework had not been changed); Capital flight since the creation of the ISF wealth tax in 1988 amounts to about €200 billion. The ISF causes a budget deficit of €7 billion per year, roughly double the ISF’s revenues. The ISF wealth tax probably reduces GDP growth by 0.2% per year, which equates to roughly €3.5 billion (roughly the same as the revenues). In an open world, the ISF wealth tax impoverishes France, shifting the tax burden from wealthy taxpayers who leave the country to other taxpayers.
HT2 Tyler Cowen.
By Scott Linthicum Cato of FreedomSeptember 16, 2024.
excerpt:
Yeltsin, who would become Russia’s first freely elected leader two years later, wandered the aisles of a relatively small Randall’s Market that day, marveling at the variety and affordability of the goods on display. Various reports say that it was this visit, not a visit to NASA, that prompted Yeltsin to leave the Communist Party and abandon the Soviet economic model. The New York Times Obituary Telling a story:
During a visit to the United States in 1989, he became more convinced than ever that Russia had been catastrophically damaged by a centralized, state-controlled economic system. People stood in long lines to buy life’s most basic necessities, and the shelves were often bare. In a Houston supermarket, he was overwhelmed by the kaleidoscopic variety of meats and vegetables available to ordinary Americans.
Lincicome said, The New York Times Yeltsin’s obituary:
Quoting Yeltsin’s associates, Leon Aron wrote in his biography Yeltsin: A Revolutionary’s Life: “On the plane to Miami, he sat motionless for a long time, his head in his hands. ‘What have they done to our poor people?’ he said after a long silence.” He continued: “On his return to Moscow, Yeltsin confessed the pain he felt after the Houston trip: ‘The pain of all of us, the pain of a country so rich, so gifted, so exhausted by ceaseless experimentation.'”
“I believe we have sinned against our people by lowering their standard of living to a level that is incomparable to that of the Americans,” Yeltsin added, he wrote. His aide Lev Sukhanov was quoted as saying that at that moment among his boss, “the last vestiges of Bolshevism had collapsed.”
DRH Note: This last quote reminds me of something Nikita Khrushchev said: Red Plenty. “there is nothingMy review of Red Plenty:
The book ends with a sympathetic portrayal of Nikita Khrushchev in 1968. Forced into retirement in 1964, Khrushchev looks back with sadness and anger at the enormous amount of blood shed in the service of Communism. He thought the losses were worth it because he and his comrades had created a paradise. But here are his actual words, which Spafford says in a footnote were on a tape recording by Khrushchev but not in the memoirs his son smuggled to the West:
“Paradise is a place where people go, not a place they can escape to. What kind of socialism is that? What kind of social order is it that keeps people in chains? What kind of paradise is that?”
By Elizabeth Nolan Brown reasonSeptember 18, 2024.
excerpt:
I don’t know if the allegations against Combs are true, but after reading the indictment, a few points stand out on which I can comment. First, the Mann Act rears its ugly head again, making something that isn’t a crime. Second, federal prosecutors are (again) broadening the scope of sex trafficking statutes to cover conduct beyond what they were originally mandated to cover. And third, organized crime conspiracy charges potentially allow the government to seize far more assets than it would otherwise be allowed to.
By Christian Britchigi reasonSeptember 17, 2024.
On Thursday, a group of Republican senators led by Sen. Tim Scott (R-South Carolina) Introduced The Renewing Opportunity for the American Dream (ROAD) Housing Act, which proposes a variety of reforms to federal housing programs.
Unlike a series of federal YIMBY (Yes in my backyard) bills introduced in recent years, Scott’s bill does not seek to encourage, nudge or bribe local or state governments to relax zoning regulations. “Housing policy is inherently local, and federal lawmakers should encourage local solutions to local problems,” he said. read Press release regarding the bill.
Still, the bill does include at least one idea to increase housing supply.
This includes eliminating federal regulations that require prefabricated homes to be built on permanent steel chassis.
By Rainer Zitelmann, The Wall Street JournalSeptember 17, 2024.
excerpt:
In 1942, Hitler defended the Soviet planned economy to his inner circle: “Stalin deserves unqualified respect. He is a genius. His economic plans are comprehensive and rival only our four-year plans. There is no doubt that there are no unemployed people in the Soviet Union, in contrast to capitalist countries like the United States.”
In July 1941, Hitler said: “The wise use of state power requires an economy planned from above,” and added: “As far as economic planning is concerned, we are only at the beginning. I think it would be great to create an economic order which would embrace Germany and Europe.” Statements like these support Hayek’s basic argument.
and:
Hayek’s book makes a second important point: that the loss of economic freedom precedes the loss of intellectual and political freedom. Critics who disagree with his concerns point to the UK, which introduced extremely high taxes and nationalization after World War II. Although the economic consequences were disastrous (and the policies were only reversed decades later by Margaret Thatcher, who greatly admired Hayek), there was no loss of political freedom.
The critics have a point: the loss of economic freedom does not necessarily or immediately lead to the loss of political and intellectual freedom. But Hayek was more right than wrong: the recent example of Venezuela shows that economic freedom was lost first, and then political freedom disappeared.
