It’s a plus that we’re seeing some discussion in Canada as to the optimal income tax rate to maximize revenue. But Paul Krugman goes a step further in pointing out why that revenue-maximizing rate (however calculated) is the optimal rate period: In the first part of the paper, (Peter Diamond
Continue readingTag: taxes
Impolitical: Hey, we’re not overtaxed
Came across this chart posted on Henry Blodget’s blog as he made a comparative point to Americans that their tax revenues could stand to be raised. As Harper et al. push their tax cutting philosophy to the nation, it’s helpful to see exactly where Canada ranks among western nations in
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Parliament In Review: October 24, 2011
Monday, October 24 saw another day dedicated largely to discussion on the Canadian Wheat Board – with the Cons simultaneously declaring that there’s nothing to debate and failing to respond to the concerns pointed out repeatedly by the opposition, whil…
Continue readingProgressive Proselytizing: The tone deaf Christmas tree tax
The US Department of Agriculture has announced it is imposing a fifteen cent tax on all live Christmas trees. The 2 million raised from this tax will be spent to create a board that promotes and advertises buying live Christmas trees. This is…
Continue readingMy parents deserve healthcare too!
Last week the Canadian government decided to stop accepting sponsor application for parent and grandparent applications. They have decided that they can’t process any more sponsorship application for parents of Canadians who are still living abro…
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Saturday Morning Links
Assorted content for your weekend reading.- Dan Gardner highlights how Stephen Harper is imposing exactly the kind of costly, top-down policies on Canada’s provinces that he once railed against:This week, at least five provincial governments, starting …
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: On diversions
It should come as no surprise that the Globe and Mail’s ongoing paean to high-end charitable tax breaks is apparently linked to a request from the Harper Cons. But perhaps more noteworthy is the fact that the Cons are commandeering the agenda of the Ho…
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Monday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material to start your week.- Tim Harper wonders what’s next for the Occupy movement, but rightly notes that state crackdowns are completely unwarranted. And Jacqueline Kennelly highlights the value of the Occupy movement as part of the w…
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: On divergent rules
Shorter Neil Reynolds:Taxes aimed at higher-wealth individuals only work if the people being taxed follow the law. And since when do we expect our wealthy betters to meet such an unreasonable standard?
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Saturday Afternoon Links
Miscellaneous material for your weekend reading.- Susan Riley comments on Brian Topp’s mention of raising taxes as a necessary price of greater equality and better social programs:(H)owever reasonable, limited or incremental (Topp’s) plan turns out to …
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Credit where due
I suspect there’s still going to be plenty of room for argument as to how much attention we ought to pay to inequality in the development of economic policy. But let’s give Kevin Milligan and other UBC economists full credit for their observations when…
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: On intended effects
It’s certainly a plus to see Stephen Gordon mention corporate governance issues as part of his latest Economy Lab piece. But there are a couple of points that demand far closer scrutiny.First, there’s the disconnect between how Gordon wants to assume e…
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Sunday Afternoon Links
Miscellaneous material to end your weekend.- Doug Cuthand makes the case for First Nations resource ownership as a matter of historical right:When the numbered treaties were negotiated in Saskatchewan in the 1870s, the resources under the ground were n…
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: The counterargument
Yes, that sound you heard yesterday was Canada’s Overton window making a much-needed move to the left. And Brian Topp’s call for to actually fund better public services through taxes looks to have a positive influence on both his own leadership candida…
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Parliament In Review: October 6, 2011
On a personal note, October 6 saw the first question period that I’ll be able to blog about after seeing in person – as well as the first time I’ve heard of question period leading with an event I’ve attended. But the more important development was the…
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: New column day
It’s bad enough having a federal government whose reaction to social problems is to tell the provinces, “No, you go first in dealing with them. I insist.” But it’s much worse having a provincial government whose response is to refuse to do anything mor…
Continue readingThe Happy Wanderer: Cains 9-9-9 plan
I decided to refute Cains 9-9-9 plan considering he is apparently now a rising star. Mr Cain has been screaming about 9-9-9 for quite some time , but is it really going to do what he says it does. First let’s see the logic behind it. Cain wou…
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Not this again
Mike Moffatt is just the latest to engage in the thoroughly tiresome habit of painting a Nordic-model tax system as a panacea for reducing inequality while utterly ignoring the massive structural differences that make such a model work – not to mention…
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Saturday Morning Links
Assorted content for your weekend reading.- Nycole Turmel sums up what Canadians should rightly expect from their government – but figure never to get from the Harper Cons:Canadian families aren’t looking for finger-pointing. They’re not looking to shi…
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Saskatchewan Election Roundup
The NDP unveiled its health-care platform today, and learned in short order that the minister currently responsible for our province’s health isn’t so strong in the accuracy department. [Update: Or the admitting one’s own gross error department.] The S…
Continue reading