Scott Adams (author of Dilbert) suggests a few (self-admittedly bad) ways to tax the rich more while making them feel good about it. Example:
Gratitude. Imagine that the government arranges to provide genuine person-to-person gratitude to the rich in exchange for higher tax rates. Suppose (bad idea alert) the government makes it a condition that anyone applying for social services has to write a personal thank-you note to a nearby rich person who, according to a central database, hasn't lately received one. Gratitude goes a long way. It's easy to hate the generic overspending of the government. It's harder to begrudge medical care to someone who thanks you personally. It's a bad idea, I know. Don't judge it. Just let it nudge your imagination to someplace better.
The article as a whole is entertaining but only slightly useful. Yes, we need to tackle the incentive structures that are built into our current social system. However, contra Adams' premise, I don't believe that America and the world are facing a debt crisis because the rich are hoarding money. In my opinion, the far larger problem is that our elected officials and unelected bureaucrats (which includes executives at subsidized corporations) are incentivized to use their positions to accumulate personal wealth and power.
(HT: NW.)
