I’m disappointed that the tarrifs didn’t happen.

I think it would have been a great experiment on how business taxation and regulations impact prices. Successful businesses are not stupid, they are very adept at getting around taxes. Businesses that once imported goods will use less of them. Some costs would inevitably get passed on to consumers but probably less than you would expect. And consumers could choose non imported alternatives over imports – buy different products and just buy less of them.

Second had the tarrifs been successful it would naturally pave the way to a carbon tax. Carbon taxes are a form of tarrifs – only fossil fuel producers pay them. Do some of cost of a carbon tax gets passed on to consumers? Yes, but again less than you would expect. Businesses would find ways to do things with less carbon, and higher fuel prices would encourage energy conservation and reduced motoring in general. Less driving means more lives saved. Plus much cleaner air in the cities.

I generally think consumption is under taxed and investing is over taxed. I would rather see much high taxes on consumption and much lower taxes on investment. People say that’s anti poor people but it’s not. Poor people should be encouraged to invest more and buy less. Nearly everybody has at least something they could cut out of their budgets. Especially imported goods and fossil fuels. Not saying such a change wouldn’t be painful at first but a society that emphasizes less consumption would be good for all. People aren’t stupid and can adapt to change.

I think it would have been a great experiment on how business taxation and regulations impact prices. Successful businesses are not stupid, they are very adept at getting around taxes. Businesses that once imported goods will use less of them. Some costs would inevitably get passed on to consumers but probably less than you would expect. And consumers could choose non imported alternatives over imports – buy different products and just buy less of them.

Second had the tarrifs been successful it would naturally pave the way to a carbon tax. Carbon taxes are a form of tarrifs – only fossil fuel producers pay them. Do some of cost of a carbon tax gets passed on to consumers? Yes, but again less than you would expect. Businesses would find ways to do things with less carbon, and higher fuel prices would encourage energy conservation and reduced motoring in general. Less driving means more lives saved. Plus much cleaner air in the cities.

I generally think consumption is under taxed and investing is over taxed. I would rather see much high taxes on consumption and much lower taxes on investment. People say that’s anti poor people but it’s not. Poor people should be encouraged to invest more and buy less. Nearly everybody has at least something they could cut out of their budgets. Especially imported goods and fossil fuels. Not saying such a change wouldn’t be painful at first but a society that emphasizes less consumption would be good for all. People aren’t stupid and can adapt to change.