In 1913, the 16th Amendment was passed, giving the government the right to collect income tax in order to begin paying service fees to the Federal Reserve, which had just taken control of creating U.S. currency from the U.S. Treasury. According to some, the 16th Amendment was directed only at capital gains income and was…
Interest Income Tax
In 1913, the 16th Amendment to the Constitution was passed giving power to the government to tax capital gains and interest income. According to some, the law was never intended to tax labor (wages or salaries), which at the time were considered an equal exchange of goods/services akin to bartering and were not considered “profit”…
Immigration
The United States is a land of immigrants. Our rich cultural heritage is very much part of what makes us a great nation. Many immigrants currently working illegally in the U.S. provide cheap labor and this can adversely affect our economy. It makes sense to provide a path for these people to get work visas…
Higher Education
The purpose of a higher education had, at one time, been viewed as a public good, to provide a well-rounded general education to citizens that included many humanities courses and as well as science or math. According to this view, state funded college and university research would benefit the public at large in terms of…
Access to Culture
Some believe that culture –literature, visual art, music, theater and etc.– is an important aspect of a healthy state. Culture, as distinct from entertainment, is often not commercially viable. How, then, do artists support themselves? During the Great Depression, the Work Progress Administration funded many public art projects. Some of these state-sponsored art projects were…
Court Reform
Currently our courts tend to convict poor defendants more often than wealthy defendants. How do we make our criminal justice system more fair, convicting those who cause harm to individuals and/or to society?
Sales Tax
Taxing sales and services (as opposed to taxing income) is seen as a simpler way of collecting tax at the point of sale. People can avoid paying income tax by not declaring cash income or using unfair loopholes, but as long as the seller/service provider is not running a cash business off the books, the…
The Separation of Business and State and the Privatization of Public Education
Because US public schools do poorly compared to those in other developed countries, those who support a “free market” approach argue the quality of education would be improved if public education were subjected to the effects of competition: schools that are inferior will go bankrupt; schools that are good get more customers. (This leaves aside…
Environmental Protection
The environment belongs to all the people and future generations. It must be protected. Those who currently hold the deeds to property should not be allowed to abuse their own land, water and air, making others suffer. Those harm the environment should be required to pay for restoring it, if it can be restored. Before…
Moral Responsibility and Capitalism
From Mises Institute, “In his book, Where and Why Public Ownership Has Failed (1914), Yves Guyot, using both statistics and economic theory, shows systematically that private railways are safer, cost less, and more efficient. An unsafe private rail company is penalized by consumers whereas nationalized industries escape all material and moral penalty. Therefore, safety requirements…
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