[PEN-L:4853] Re: Asset tax

[ROSSERJB@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

     The US economy currently depends heavily on
an asset tax.  It is the local property tax, far
and away the main source of local government revenue.
Although many have theorized that it ought to be
progressive, most recent studies conclude just the
opposite---it tends to get shifted onto low income
renters.
     Also there are a lot of people with high asset
values but low incomes, notably retired homeowners
with paid-off mortgages and a lot of farmers.
     Just because a tax looks progressive doesn't
mean that it is.  Similar problems show up in the
studies of the incidence of the corporate profits
tax which is largely shifted forward to consumers.
Barkley Rosser
James Madison University