Although Swedish wealth distribution has been cited for its equality, the numbers reveal that the upper class has much more than most of us expect.
Unintended Consequences: When Can Government Control What We Eat?
When government gives us more, can it tell us what to do? During October, 2011, Denmark became the first country in the world to have a fatty foods tax. Targeting all foods with more than a 2.3% saturated fat content,…
Do You Agree With French Taxes?
Talking about taxes, economists like to quote Louis XIV’s finance minister: “The art of taxation consists of so plucking the goose as to obtain the largest amount of feathers with the least possible amount of hissing.” We have been hearing…
Remembering Milton Friedman
Split down the middle, opinion about the US economy puts private initiative or government first. Those who place individual enterprise first believe most private income belongs to those who generate it. By contrast, government’s advocates see a growing share of private income as…
Just Taxes
What happens when a philosopher who believes in less government gets benefits from government? Here is the story: In a building that Love Story author Erich Segal owned, Harvard professor Robert Nozick (1938-2002), a libertarian philosopher, was a tenant. After paying…
Sweden, Ikea and Taxes
Our story starts when Ikea’s founder, Ingvar Kamprad, left Sweden during the 1970s. It ends with Sweden’s current finance minister saying that taxes were the reason. Associated with a more humane form of capitalism, Sweden was the prototype for the…
The Magic of 49
Sometimes, one employee makes a huge difference. In France, one extra worker can mean that a firm needs to create worker councils, establish profit sharing, and report to employee representatives when firing people for economic reasons. BUT…that worker has to…
