Re: gasoline

["John O'Donnell" <jackodonnell@xxxxxxxx>]

Paul David son wrote:
>
> At 06:08 PM 3/29/01 -0500, you wrote:

<<SNIP>>

> But making gasoline more expensive
> (by more taxes) without any absolutely  cheaper
> alternative merely would hurt low income people the most.
> And making it more expensive , just so something else
> becomes (relatively) cheaper, can never be in the social
> interest.

Not true. There is the fact that increasing taxes on
petroleum would discourage use and thereby reduce the amount
of monopoly profit available to OPEC. Pay one way or pay
another, but some ways provide greater benefit to the
domestic population and some provide greater benefit to
foreign populations. Collect the inevitable cost
domestically and the collections can be distributed to the
domestic population to spend as they like whereas allowing
the collections to be made by foreigners leaves no such
alternative.

Affecting relative prices by taxation CAN be in the social
interest IF it only collects what would otherwise be paid to
a few elites as monopoly profits, even if the profiteers are
domestic. See: _Three Steps to Economic Freedom_ at:
http://www.geocities.com/jackodonnell.geo/c00r4.html

--
			-- jbod

		Tax Privilege, Not People
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