… happens to be the title of a lovely little essay on just this very topic.
A short read, it is worth your time if you happen to be a student of economics because of the following reasons:
- Learn how who gets to tax what and why is (and has always been) a political question rather than an economic one.
- Learn how what should be taxed is determined, and ask how this might have evolved over the ages.
- Imagine learning about macroeconomics while learning about beer. What better way to start, eh?
- Got nothing to do with economics, but I learnt about the etymology of the word spinster.
- The Insider Outsider model – heard of it? Read the Wiki article, and ask yourself whether this fits (and if not, why not?)
- Should alcohol be subsumed under the GST?
- Centralisation of anything isn’t something that proceeds in linear fashion over time. What lessons should we be learning from this today?
- The petty tyranny of local inspectors ain’t new. That’s not a new finding, to be clear, but it usually comes as a surprise to newbies in the field of econ history.
- Change is important when it comes to society, but the rapidity of this change is rarely welcomed. This is true for individuals, organizations, institutions and society. Trust me on this.
- The footnotes have some excellent books to add to your infinitely long reading list.
EconForEverybody 