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Should the goal of tax policy be to equitably divide the wealth pie or should it be for everyone to be better off?

John in a recent post stated the key to arguing taxation policy was the ability to discern which arguments mattered and which were superficial. Toward that end, I would insist that using statistics to demonstrate either the utility of a supply-side model or a more progressive model of marginal income tax rates misses the boat entirely. The more fundamental point is that the entire concept of utilitarian income taxation is flawed.

Hat tip to The Liberty Papers who finds this excellent article by John Stossel on lobbying and big government.

It reminds me of a diary I wrote about Google, Microsoft and Lobbying.

Said I:

Actually, I rather grumble at stats in general because they always help make any argument you want. The tricky part is seeing which arguments matter and which ones DON'T.

Let's take a look at "stats" on income and taxes.

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Well, probably not. But that's OK. He doesn't have to be. But it he's awfully libertarian-esque these days. I'll tell you one thing, though: Few things about politics bring a real smile to my face. But one of those things that does is when liberal concerns and sensibilities on outcomes are channeled through classical liberal/libertarian policy views. Not only does it bring a grin to the face of a libertarian like me but it also resonates with voters if given a chance...not only does it resonate, it's 100% correct! How about that?

Hat tip to Tyler Cowen .

Tyler comments on a post by Megan McCardle at the Atlantic about what the legal ramifications should be for drug companies' products that pass the FDA approval process. Megan's commentary was, in turn, prompted by a post by Kevin Drum at Washington Monthly .

Starting with Drum:

Hat to Arnold Kling at EconLog

Ibsen Martinez writes about life in Chavez's Venezuela and follies of his policies.

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Inflation has existed ever since the invention of money. It is always decried as a bad thing which must be eliminated or at least controlled. Lately the absolutist position of earlier ages has been replaced by inflation "targeting" by central banks. The current head of the US Federal Reserve, Ben Bernanke, even wrote a book on the subject.

My understanding of why inflation is regarded as something to be prevented depends on a model of social and economic interests. In my model there are three broad classes of people. The lowest class, the working class and the rentier class.

Obama's recent populist rhetoric in Wisconsin has drawn criticism from those concerned he is espousing protectionist views. One sentence in particular has been the focus of much scrutiny: It’s a game where trade deals like NAFTA ship jobs overseas and force parents to compete with their teenagers to work for minimum wage at Wal-Mart. Why is he slamming NAFTA? Why did he vote against CAFTA? Is he anti-trade? Is he protectionist? As is often the case, a broader context is helpful to fully understand his position.

Without a doubt, one of the most fascinating and disheartening chapters in The Logic of Life is chapter 6 on "Rational Racism".

A test was done at the University of VA. Students signed up and were paid to be part of the experiment, which was done via a faceless web based interface. They were divided in two groups. Employers and Employees. The employees were randomly assigned colors: Green or Purple. The experiment was done in 3 phases.

And no, I'm not stretching when I say that. In fact, the environmentalist linked here admits as much and with no qualms.

Hat tip to Steve Horwitz in his third of three posts on environmentalism. See link for others.

The Op-Ed in question is by environmentalist David Shearman from Australia.

A recent discussion about limited resources and economic growth and their relationship as it affects our sustainability got me thinking about a book I just finished last week: The Logic of Life by Tim Harford .

The plan to provide universal health care in CA, a bipartisan effort led by Republican Governor Schwarzenegger and Democratic Assembly Speaker Núñez, was voted down Monday 7-1 in the Senate Health Committee. In the end it faced opposition from both Republicans and Democrats, as well as from powerful special interest groups like the tobacco industry.

Below, some quotes from this summary and brief thoughts on implications.

Restraining Sarkozy's Bling

In a somewhat surprising development the 31 year old Jerome Kerviel, hedged his bets and lost the French Bank Societe Generale billions has become somewhat of a celebrity in France.

The young Kerviel is being celebrated in a world wide movement as the hero who's run on the French Bank is being touted as a good spanking to the anti-socialist President Sarkozy, who is red faced with embarrassment over the banks loss of standing. Sarkozy is defiant, stating that he will not let his bank be bought! Touche!

What's Best for the Bank

Herectics and rebels around the world are celebrating Jerome Kerviel as their new hero.

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Seriously.

It's like every time that investors and the markets stomp their feet and cry, the fed cuts rates. Except this time, they cut them in anticipation of a sharp market decline. As I write this [1/22], the market is still falling, but maybe not as much as anticipated.

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Rudy’s bold claim last Sunday on ABC’s This Week: "The case for me is that I am the strongest fiscal conservative in the race”.

On what basis does Rudy make this claim? Apparently on the basis that he is offering “the biggest tax cut plan of anyone running.” http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iyM-KTdp3jrniNOZ80hWZGc7ZWiQD8U9TH0G0