welfareWe contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle. – Winston Churchill (1903)
I think Winston means somewhere along, “you can’t”. I need more detailed explanation.
What does the bucket represent?
What does the force lifting the bucket represent?
In bucket case, we know that the amount of normal force exerted on the bottom of the bucket is the same with the weight of the person standing on it plus the amount of force he use to pull the bucket up. Also bucket will be supported by the ground below.
What’s the implication of this forces in economy? That the more we tax the rich, the more the rich want to force people to be poor or what?
Does that imply we shouldn’t have any wealth redistribution at all and any wealth redistribution will only increase the amount of poverty? That’s what would happen in the bucket. Great pool, big or small, will just increase the force the food put on the bottom of the bucket.
That doesn’t seem to be quite realistic given that most rich countries do have some social programs that does improves’ it’s people’s welfare albeit the huge cost of it to freedom, etc.
There were no answers to this question.
All content is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.