Value-added tax

Value-added tax (VAT) is a tax on the poor. As in the fairy tale rumpelstiltskin, it would probably go away if people knew what it was.

Our reading list includes Propaganda for a reason. What good is knowledge when sentiment is in a stranglehold?

For example, when you’re taxing the rich, you call it “wealth tax”.

And when we hear the words “poverty tax”, we instinctively assume it’s a tax to help the poor (paid for by the wealthy).

So how does one call a tax where the poor contribute a larger share, relative to their wealth? Answer: you come up with a name that sounds good. And when training the next generation of economists, you teach them to use the code-word: regressive tax.

Banks need Boundaries! is dedicated to alternative forms of money creation. “Sensible forms of investment should lead to a flow of money towards the real economy” (from our petition.) One way to have money in the hands of the real economy is to stop taking money away from it.