In the WSJ, John Cochrane advocates getting rid of the personal income tax, the corporate income tax, and the estate tax. Instead, he favors a VAT. En passant, he advocates a universal basic income, without calling it that. On his blog, he explains
The oped explains briefly how to make a VAT progressive, if that’s what you want. The idea is explained more at length in an earlier post. Briefly, you get a rebate for VAT on your first $10,000 of expenditures, half on the next $10,000 and so on. The rebate can happen instantly, like a giant rewards program for debit cards.
Incidentally, when we canceled the WaPo and subscribed to the WSJ, it was a very big improvement. The weekend review section of the WSJ contains interesting pieces by interesting writers. Paul Theroux on road trips. Michael Shermer on human reason. The equivalent weekend review section in the WaPo had essays that were predictable at best and cringeworthy at worst, with a tendency toward an increase in the latter.
A UBI would pay out without spending though, not just rebate some taxes paid. It isn’t that everyone doesn’t need to consume, but that the consumption of some is paid for by others. Are dependents afforded an income, those who support them an exclusion, or is it not universal? It might favor giving cash, or surrogate buying splitting the saving from lower taxes.
I agree. Not a UBI. It’s a progressive consumption tax.
I don’t agree with everything I read on the Wall Street Journal’s opinion page, but it almost always makes me think. I find the news is usually pretty balanced and contains very interesting stories about the economy. I’m usually a tightwad when it comes to paid subscriptions, but I think the WSJ is worth every penny.
Re: newspaper comparisons. Timothy Taylor highlights an interview with Jesse Shapiro on the topic(s) of “media bias and political bias” that apparently suggests readership drives bias more than ownership. I’ve not read it yet; going there now.
http://conversableeconomist.blogspot.com/2017/09/interview-with-jesse-shapiro-media-and.html
I gave up on the Post back in the early ’90s. The Journal was a welcome alternative, although I don’t have the time to read it anymore.
I like their crossword.
I live in the Chicago area and I feel that the Tribune has really fallen. Other than John Kass, their other main opinion writers are all left-wing, other than Libertarian Steve Chapman, who apparently goes out of his way to bash Trump with almost every article. Then it seems about half the news articles and other opinion pieces are from the Washington Post. I started getting the WSJ about a year ago (still get the Trib) and have really been impressed with it.