Most people think about taxation as a bite out of their paychecks, an extra expense at the grocery store, and a massive hassle around April 15 every year. All this is correct as far as it goes, but what we too often fail to appreciate are the massive ways in which tax policy shapes our lives and our decision-making. Matt Kibbe sits down with Scott Hodge, president emeritus of the Tax Foundation and author of the book “Taxocracy,” to discuss how taxation is used for social engineering by a government that wants to control and restrict your available choices. This concept is not limited to the so-called “sin taxes” on items like alcohol and tobacco but includes tax incentives for behavior deemed desirable by politicians and bureaucrats, such as buying a home or having children. Hodge argues that the use of tax policy to shape citizens’ behavior is fundamentally opposed to free will and the idea that we are the authors of our own destinies.
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