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February 26, 2018|Abba P. Lerner, Ajay K. Mehrotra, Edwin Seligman, Hegel-versus-Ranke debate, Income Tax, Making the Modern American Fiscal State, Richard Ely

Tariff Truths and Income Tax Iniquities

by Brian Domitrovic|

Because the tariff was a crudely obvious favor-trading machine, it inspired effective revulsion.

September 5, 2016|Disability, Income Tax, Labor, Licensing Regulations, Minimum Wage, Nicholas Eberstadt, Sigmund Freud

A Labor Day Program for Freeing Labor

by John O. McGinnis|

Nothing is more central to human flourishing than work.  Other animals expend energy to survive. But man evolved to make conscious toil for food and shelter. This aspect of our heritage is reflected in a psyche that for most still requires work for contentment.  Sigmund Freud was not right about everything, but he was certainly correct that love and work are the necessary conditions of a satisfied life.

While modern America has cleared out obstacles to love, however unconventional, it has put up more and more impediments to work.  Begin with the tax code. It raises most income from labor, not consumption. As a result, the government discourages work more than is required to run its operations. Nor can the decision to tax labor heavily be justified by concern about inequality.  For those who want their taxes progressive, a consumption tax can be made as progressive as an income tax.

Second, minimum wage laws prevent the least talented and able among us from participating in work.

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March 8, 2016|Henry Brougham, Income Tax, Lord Liverpool, Victory at Waterloo, Whig Opposition

Reforming a Fiscal Revolution

by William Anthony Hay|

Almost exactly 200 years ago, the British House of Commons rejected a peacetime income tax. Henry Brougham, a Whig member of Parliament, mobilized public opinion against the tax, and after a raucous debate in the Commons, his side won by 37 votes. This revolt against the government that had led Britain to victory over Napoleon barely a year before, and the government’s response, marked an important turning point.

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March 14, 2014|Akhil Amar, Contract Clause, Economic Liberty, Income Tax

Economic Liberty–Part of the Constitution’s DNA

by John O. McGinnis|

Previously I praised America’s Unwritten Constitution by Akhil Amar and then offered my first reservation about the book. My second reservation is its treatment of economic liberty. Professor Amar sees the greatness of the Constitution in the unfolding of democracy and equality. But economic liberty is also in the Constitution’s DNA and yet he seems to leave it out of the American story.

I also thought unfounded one historical claim, which itself surprising, because Professor Amar is generally very reliable. In a discussion that attacked theories of interpretation that would justify reasoning striking down economic regulation, as in Lochner v. New York, he wrote: “The 1913 ratification of Federal Income Tax Amendment, one of the most notable populist events of the twentieth century, blessed redistributive economic policy by endorsing a tax that everyone understood would likely feature a progressive structure taxing the wealthy at steeper rates than the poor.” One does not have be a libertarian to wonder whether the proposition that this amendment blessed redistributive economic policy in general is an overstatement. In fact, the 16th amendment can be seen as attempt to find an stable source of revenue other than tariffs, which were not only inefficient but often regressive, rather than a general endorsement of redistribution.

In any event, regulatory powers and taxing powers are different constitutional concepts. Economists then and now almost universally see redistribution through taxation as a superior policy, because it does not lead to as much distortion and loss of innovation as does redistribution through regulation. Thus, the 16th amendment cannot be said to extinguish whatever constitutional restrictions there are on redistribution through regulation.

More generally, our Constitution protects economic freedom in many ways.

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October 4, 2013|Canadian Gun Control, Income Tax, John Locke, Persecution of Christians, The Unwinding

Friday Roundup, October 4th

by Richard M. Reinsch II|

October's Liberty Forum on Congressional power to define the substance of the 14th Amendment is now available and features essays from Joshua Hawley, Kurt Lash, and John Harrison. Losing the gun in Canada: Pierre Lemieux reviews Arming and Disarming: A History of Gun Control in Canada in our feature Books essay this week. Bart Wilson @Econ Lib: What's wrong with utilitarian behavioral economics? Daniel McCarthy on John Locke's colonial capitalism: Liberal, Libertarian, or License. Mollie Hemingway: Can We Finally Start Talking About the Global Persecution of Christians? Daniel Mitchell on October 3rd, 1913 as the worst day in American history. The Unwinding: Reviewing George Packer's account…

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April 28, 2013|Barack Obama, Calvin Coolidge, Declaration of Independence, fiscal policy, Income Tax, Limited Government, Redistribution

Silent Cal’s 6 Simple Rules for a Confused President Obama

by Jason Stevens|

Coolidge's Inaugural Address, March 24,1925

In his new book, Why Coolidge Matters: Leadership Lessons from America’s Most Underrated President, Charles C. Johnson claims that ‘Silent Cal’ wasn’t so much silent as he was silenced. But today, thirty years since Tom Silver’s underrated book about America’s underrated thirtieth president, Coolidge and the Historians, that is changing. In addition to Johnson’s book, we also have Amity Shlaes’s new biography, Coolidge, a prequel of sorts to her bestseller, The Forgotten Man: A New History of the Great Depression. Undoubtedly, there is growing interest in Coolidge that, although somewhat delayed, is especially timely for the present. Here are six lessons for President Obama from the not-so-silent Cal Coolidge.

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Book Reviews

A Mirror of the 20th-Century Congress

by Joseph Postell

Wright undermined the very basis of his local popularity—the decentralized nature of the House—by supporting reforms that gave power to the party leaders.

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The Graces of Flannery O'Connor

by Henry T. Edmondson III

O'Connor's correspondence is a goldmine of piercing insight and startling reflections on everything from literature to philosophy to raising peacocks.

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Liberty Classics

Rereading Politica in the Post-Liberal Moment

by Glenn A. Moots

Althusius offers a rich constitutionalism that empowers persons to thrive alongside one another in deliberate communities.

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James Fenimore Cooper and the American Experiment

by Melissa Matthes

In The American Democrat, James Fenimore Cooper defended democracy against both mob rule and majority tyranny.

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Podcasts

Stuck With Decadence

A discussion with Ross Douthat

Ross Douthat discusses with Richard Reinsch his new book The Decadent Society.

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Can the Postmodern Natural Law Remedy Our Failing Humanism?

A discussion with Graham McAleer

Graham McAleer discusses how postmodern natural law can help us think more coherently about human beings and our actions.

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Did the Civil Rights Constitution Distort American Politics?

A discussion with Christopher Caldwell

Christopher Caldwell discusses his new book, The Age of Entitlement.

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America, Land of Deformed Institutions

A discussion with Yuval Levin

Yuval Levin pinpoints that American alienation and anger emerges from our weak political, social, and religious institutions.

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About

Law & Liberty’s focus is on the classical liberal tradition of law and political thought and how it shapes a society of free and responsible persons. This site brings together serious debate, commentary, essays, book reviews, interviews, and educational material in a commitment to the first principles of law in a free society. Law & Liberty considers a range of foundational and contemporary legal issues, legal philosophy, and pedagogy.

The opinions expressed on Law & Liberty are solely those of the contributors to the site and do not reflect the opinions of Liberty Fund.
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