There are two tilings in life that you cannot avoid: death and taxes. Some
people might argue that taxes are worse than death. Why do we have to pay
taxes? A chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court once said: "Taxes is the
price we pay for a civilized society."
Many goods and services provided by the government, like national
defense, bridges and public parks, are goods that are "public," in the sense
that many people can use them at the same time. An apple, for example, is
a private good, because if I buy it and eat it, you cannot. But if I go to the
park and enjoy a walk, that does not prevent you from "consuming" the
park, as well.
Goods that are public in nature are often not produced by the private
market, because it can be difficult to make everyone who consumes the
good pay for it, or like a public park, people may believe that it is fair that
all have the ability to use the space freely. I will not want to produce a good
that I cannot prevent people from using if they have not paid for it. But
these public goods are important, for national defense and quality of life,
and so the government steps in to pay for their production, using tax
revenue to finance these projects.
Likewise, goods like primary education and basic healthcare create
benefits for everyone, not just the people "consuming" these goods.
Educated and healthy people are more productive, so we all benefit from
the provision of these goods. Economists call these "spillover" benefits,
because the benefits of consumption affect everyone, not just the direct
consumers. Therefore, we all shoulder some responsibility for paying for
these goods, so that adequate quantities will be produced. The government
uses tax revenues to pay for these goods that benefit all of us.
75. THUẾ VÀ HÀNG HÓA CÔNG
