How Dumb Is It?

Column 2017-7 (3/6/17)

   The year is still young.  It's not too young though for making
my first nomination for "dumb idea of the year."  I hope the idea wins
the award.  I shudder to imagine someone coming up with a dumber
idea.

     This idea makes Mr. Trump at his worst seem good.  And, that
is no small accomplishment.  At least Trump appears to have a few
good ideas to balance his ledger.

     Interestingly, the supper dumb idea is attributed to the man
alleged to be the world's richest human.  Bill Gates supposedly wants to
tax robots that take jobs from humans.  Maybe this will turn out to be
fake news, or an early April Fool's Day prank.  I certainly hope so.

     The sophomoric logic behind the proposal is that humans are
taxed on the income they produce; therefore, robots should be taxed
too.  Would the robot hire another robot to file the tax forms?  Of
course, business owners are already taxed on income produced by their
robots.

     Robots increase productivity of workers so that each produces
more.  Thus, fewer workers are needed to make the same amount of
products.  Of course, the increased productivity will lower the price of
the product creating demand for more of the product.  Will the robot get
a tax credit for the new jobs it created?

     The function of invention and innovation is to increase the
productivity of workers.  Increased productivity is the only way to
increase our standard of living.  Gates is proposing to tax away part of
the increase in our standard of living.

     Every innovation that increases productivity takes away jobs. 
Why single out robots for special treatment?  How many scribes have
lost their jobs to printing presses?  How many telephone operators have
been replaced by computers?  How many diggers lost their jobs because
of the invention of shovels?

     One of the greatest job destroyers of all times is the farm tractor. 
It has wiped out millions of jobs driving and caring for horses and
mules.  What would be a fair tax to impose on tractor owners for this
dirty deed?

     A robot is just a fancy piece of equipment.  Equipment doesn't
pay taxes.  Equipment owners will have to come up with the money
to pay the robot tax.  Businesses don't pay taxes either.

     Businesses merely collect taxes for government.  The tax money
must come from customers or employees, or else the business goes
bankrupt.  Instead of cutting prices or increasing wages, the business
will send the robot tax money to government.

     There is a third option.  Government could use the robot tax to
subsidize the businesses harmed by the robot tax.  I hope this option
doesn't make sense to anyone.

     Without the robot tax, consumers will pay lower prices for the
goods produced by robots.   This will leave consumers with money to
spend on things they couldn't buy before.  Someone will have to make
those things.  That means new jobs.

     If government levies the robot tax, then government gets to
spend the increased productivity.  Of course, if government taxes away
all the benefits from using robots, there won't be any robots to tax, or
any increased productivity to spend.

     It appears that Gates believes government will spend wealth
more wisely than will those who produce it.  That is unless the producer
is Bill Gates.  If Gates really believed in the wisdom of government, he
would donate his billions to the cause.

     The robot tax is just one more lame scheme to increase taxes on
everyone.  Government thrives on fooling people into believing
someone else is paying the taxes.

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Copyright 2017
Albert D. McCallum