Quote of the Day

"To tax the larger incomes at a higher percentage than the smaller, is to lay a tax on industry and economy; to impose a penalty on people for having worked harder and saved more than their neighbours."

--John Stuart Mill, Principles of Political Economy

A Textbook Example of Socialism

Here's a great article that discusses the rent-seeking that's involved when textbook content is controlled by the State. In California:

(textbooks) must include illustrations of tall and short people, heavy and thin individuals, people with disabilities, and families headed by two parents, by one parent, by grandparents, by aunts/uncles, and by other adults. When writing about the development of the U.S. Constitution, authors are directed to cite the dubious claim that it was patterned “partially after the League of Five Nations — a union formed by five Iroquois nations.

I've blogged about this topic here, here, and here.

Pitfalls of Progressivity

It turns out that much of the California state income tax revenue comes from Google executives. As Virginia Postrel notes, if our tax system becomes so "progressive" that high-income taxpayers leave the state for Nevada then we might be in trouble.

Link via The Conspiracy to Keep You Poor and Stupid

Price Controls Repealed in Hawaii

Some time ago, Hawaii made a decision to put price controls on gas prices. Well, it looks like the experiment failed miserably and they decided to get rid of them.

Update: Unfortunately, the link has died since the story came out.