Who says we can’t learn useful lessons from the French? Consider this blurb from the latest print edition of National Review.
France has once again tried to impose punitive taxes on its citizens’ incomes, and it has once again faced a backlash. In May, ministers in the country discovered that despite rises in the income tax, VAT, and corporation tax rates, receipts from the three streams came to 16 billion euros — a 14-billion-euro shortfall. It is not just rich actors who have rebelled. President Francois Hollande’s approval rating among all voters is hovering at around 20 percent, his Socialist party has been greatly weakened in parliament, and his own prime minister, Manuel Valls, has complained that “too much tax kills tax.” What’s French for “Laffer curve”?
Ah, yes, the Laffer curve.
