Re: novel argument against taxing rents


<royls@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:442c1c2b.22188449@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
On Thu, 30 Mar 2006 05:26:51 -0500, "sinister"
<sinister@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

To wit, that arbitrage is rent collection. See
http://delong.typepad.com/sdj/2006/03/wsj_interview_o.html#comment-15484385
and surrounding debate.

It's very hard to convince people that their understanding has been
crippled by tendentious definitions designed to prevent them from
thinking about the underlying realities. The key point in recognizing
and exposing the deliberate misdefinition of economic rent is that it
focuses on the _size_ of the owner's return (i.e., "more than" another
return) rather than on how the return is obtained.

Right, as regards the claim that basketball stars are collecting rents.

Couldn't seem to persuade him that arbitrage doesn't have much to do with
rents (which was his original claim: arbitrage good; involves rents; hence
taxing away rents bad).

Cheers.


-- Roy L


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