In recent weeks, tax has become hotter than ever as s topic for discussion. That the quality of public debate is so poor is disappointing, but only to be expected. It ought to be obvious that different taxes have different effects but this seems not to be much appreciated either by politicians, journalists or the general public. Unfortunately, this lack of understanding applies all the way across...

There is a widespread idea that the purpose of tax is to collect money for the government to spend (or waste). There is another way of looking at what is happening: that all official money is created by governments. It is placed into circulation when they pay for their expenses (legitimate or otherwise). The purpose of tax is to remove this money from circulation, so as to complete the cycle. If...

The Welfare State and Socialism are what we get when society is too lazy or stupid to examine in an adequate way the economic system that gives rise to the problems it is saddled with: a widening gap between the have-nots, cycles of booms and busts, and a bloated finance sector feeding off the wealth creators. The quest for a sustainable solution has gone astray as soon as the economic system is...

by Henry Law This article is the personal opinion of the author and does not reflect the views of the Campaign, which is strictly non-party Last week′s budget is a display of stunning incompetence. The wisdom of a cut in the overall tax take is debatable, but of the particular tax cuts proposed by the Chancellor, there is nothing favourable to be said. The cut in Stamp Duty, whilst desirable in...