Tax Problems

Pete Davis writes that a Value Added Tax, a policy many economics favor, "won't produce instant revenue, easily collected revenue, or fairness." Bartlett agrees at VAT wouldn't produce revenue quickly and argues that "it needs to be implemented well in advance of a financial crisis, perhaps initially as a revenue-neutral tax reform." Avent applies these thoughts to other policy debates:

[C]ontra Greg Mankiw, the wonk who advocates for a policy based on an idealised and theoretical assessment of its merits relative to alternatives may be doing the world a disservice. Instead, more time should be spent thinking about how politics is likely to warp a policy and building a relatively resilient package of reforms.