-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Tim May wrote:
The notion of privatizing the system will not really help much, not in the handful of months before the impact hits. And there are worrisome aspects to this privatization. Recall that previous regimes had problems collecting taxes, and issued "letters of marque and reprisal" for "privateers" to stop ships on the high seas to collect taxes for the crown. Sir Francis Drake made his fortune this way, collecting taxes for Elizabeth I.
Letters of marque and reprisal are not generally considered to be tax collection instruments as the targets were not usually considered legitimate sources of tax revenue in time of peace. (Still, Tim would probably argue that there is no meaningful distinction.) A stronger analogy could be made to tax collection groups such as the Farmers General in pre-revolutionary France. Entrepreneurs could obtain a franchise to collect taxes for the King, receiving a fraction of the taxes collected. My guess is that these franchises were both purchased and granted outright. The Farmers General were unpopular and they didn't fare well during the Revolution. On May 8, 1794 (Floreal 19, Year II), 27 of these scoundrels were executed in Revolution Square, including one Antoine Lavoisier. The IRS does privatize some of its work in the sense that bounties are available for informants. They get a percentage (~10%) of the tax revenue "recovered". The percentage drops rapidly as the total take increases. Monty Cantsin Editor in Chief Smile Magazine http://www.neoism.org/squares/smile_index.html http://www.neoism.org/squares/cantsin_10.html -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.6.2 iQEVAwUBNCIfy5aWtjSmRH/5AQHJ/gf+MzKYDpXrt4dz576vOuYmI0Z3WkCBF/5T j7poVbfoTWYyl8m1ThnY2SR1OcbM2JXebN7vwG9PEYQ8AWsP1k/SO55MdJ6jXoXF H/9Tl5g1gBGuqbTXHVWQS7AGY5uHKhU3vUyUODJ8qfIaJNVuPbBDjfHCtbitPObj DEZjn2cH0AiaGgDe2wmZtXFzZhXZoz0g+i8MVFCLHVNveiZQzC+ihNQtD7HLKtVl uHk86V2Dp1yF/bzW46342ED/48H0esR+8KhuLg2CGplPkj8Ie0w+EySSX5Jd7dLL zM9QJ/rbe+Vpu2qnDTYy5xmJMv1VGtsw4I21G0mbIw/+CUErnnZuSA== =fkiJ -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----