Tax After Coronavirus (TACs) : The inspiration

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I conceived of the Tax After Coronavirus (TACs) project after very recently re-reading Keynes' 'How to pay for the war'. As  James Keenan has noted on this blog, Keynes said this in the introduction to that book:

“Courage will be forthcoming if the leaders of opinion in all parties will summon out of the fatigue and confusion of war enough lucidity of mind to understand for themselves and to explain to the public what is required; and then propose a plan conceived in a spirit of social justice, a plan which uses a time of general sacrifice, not as an excuse for postponing desirable reforms, but as an opportunity for moving further than we have moved hitherto towards reducing inequalities.”

J.M. Keynes, How to Pay for the War, 1940, p. 1.

The coronavirus crisis is not the same as the war. What it demands of us is different. But it will create fatigue, and confusion, pain and suffering. I suspect no one doubts that now. And out of that we all have to hope something good will come.

A reduction in inequalities is one such good. That reduction in inequalities as a  result of a fairer, more effective, better directed and understood tax system is my objective for this project. This does seem to be the time to consider that possibility. This is what the Tax After Coronavirus (TACs) plan is all about.


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