Americans Are in the Worst of All Tax Worlds: Allison Schrager

Taxes are a necessary fact of life. Although no one likes paying them, and they divert resources and cause waste, governments need revenue to provide essential (and some not-so-essential) services. And with its large debt, aging population and growing appetite for government benefits, the US will have to increase taxes sooner rather than later.

Unfortunately, politicians in America — across all parties and levels of government — seem dead set on the absolute worst kinds of taxes.

From an economist’s point of view, there are good taxes and bad taxes. Good taxes are ones that raise money without ...