Thomas Sowell on the Complexity of Economics

At the risk of appearing to be a shill for Sowell I'm recommending that you read another series of his columns:

• Too "Complex"?: Part I
• Too "Complex"?: Part II
• Too "Complex"?: Part III

Sowell makes it easy for people other than devious politicians with inflated egos to understand the effects of supply and demand versus the politicians' actions on the "affordability" of those products that we need or want.

All three presidential contenders want to enact one or another price control on fuel but none of them wants to tap our greatest reserves of oil.

Barack Obama wants to levy an additional tax on the oil companies, which will increase the price of fuel. Apparently he sees it as punishment for their supposed greed. But guess who eventually gets punished. Clue: It's not Obama or the oil companies.

Most of the liberal politicians today want to increase the income taxes of the "wealthy" taxpayers. Think about it. How do you actually tax the wealthy? The vast majority of them are in controlling positions relative to their income. Tax their businesses' profits and they will pass it on to consumers of their products. Tax their salaries and they will raise them -- and pass the cost on to consumers.

Consumers of products and services pay all the taxes regardless of their income. Since the non-wealthy consume vastly more products and services than the wealthy, the non-wealthy pay vastly more of the taxes. It doesn't matter who files the return and sends a check to the IRS, we all pay too much in taxes in the end.

Have you heard someone boast that they don't have to pay income taxes? Next time give them a lesson in trickle-down taxes and economics.

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