Comments on: Addressing the FairTax Critics … Again http://www.showmedaily.org/2010/01/addressing-the-fairtax-critics.html Advancing liberty with responsibility by promoting market solutions for Missouri public policy Thu, 24 May 2012 12:24:42 -0400 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: Alison http://www.showmedaily.org/2010/01/addressing-the-fairtax-critics.html/comment-page-1#comment-5142 Alison Sun, 31 Jan 2010 01:17:33 +0000 http://www.showmedaily.org/?p=12200#comment-5142 RE your hope that Blouin will "clarify her arguments and engage our own," I think you're the one with some clarification to do. You cite a paper you wrote recently last fall that says the tax rate could be 5.96 percent under this plan. Yet it sure looks like you got this answer by assuming that all of what BEA calls "personal consumption expenditures(PCE)" could be taxed under this bill. And that's patently absurd. PCE includes not only spending by people, but spending on behalf of people. For example, fully half of the health care spending that shows up in PCE is spending by the federal and state government. It would be absurd on its face to tax that. PCE also includes the value of food stamps, which it would be illegal for states to tax. And the biggest whopper of all: fully 10% of PCE is something called the "imputed rental value of owner-occupied property," which is an accounting fiction that would be virtually impossible for any state to tax. So, my question of clarification for you: when you assert that the tax base under this bill could be the full value of PCE, are you just unaware of the difficulties I'm mentioning above, or are you just trying to trick people? RE your hope that Blouin will “clarify her arguments and engage our own,” I think you’re the one with some clarification to do.

You cite a paper you wrote recently last fall that says the tax rate could be 5.96 percent under this plan. Yet it sure looks like you got this answer by assuming that all of what BEA calls “personal consumption expenditures(PCE)” could be taxed under this bill. And that’s patently absurd. PCE includes not only spending by people, but spending on behalf of people. For example, fully half of the health care spending that shows up in PCE is spending by the federal and state government. It would be absurd on its face to tax that. PCE also includes the value of food stamps, which it would be illegal for states to tax. And the biggest whopper of all: fully 10% of PCE is something called the “imputed rental value of owner-occupied property,” which is an accounting fiction that would be virtually impossible for any state to tax.

So, my question of clarification for you: when you assert that the tax base under this bill could be the full value of PCE, are you just unaware of the difficulties I’m mentioning above, or are you just trying to trick people?

]]> By: cat1 http://www.showmedaily.org/2010/01/addressing-the-fairtax-critics.html/comment-page-1#comment-5017 cat1 Mon, 18 Jan 2010 15:33:18 +0000 http://www.showmedaily.org/?p=12200#comment-5017 Concur with the idea - there is no such thing as a fair tax ! The devil is in the details. What and who is exempt from this new "so called" Fair Tax? That answer will tell you how "Fair" the tax is. Concur with the idea – there is no such thing as a fair tax ! The devil is in the details. What and who is exempt from this new “so called” Fair Tax? That answer will tell you how “Fair” the tax is.

]]> By: Joe Nonnenkamp http://www.showmedaily.org/2010/01/addressing-the-fairtax-critics.html/comment-page-1#comment-5013 Joe Nonnenkamp Sun, 17 Jan 2010 05:18:20 +0000 http://www.showmedaily.org/?p=12200#comment-5013 There is no such thing as a fair tax http://mises.org/daily/1975 There is no such thing as a fair tax

http://mises.org/daily/1975

]]>