Serious question: how many friends would I have to gather before we could declare ourselves a government and take your money under threat of violence, justifying the act as taxation?
Americans are Paying for Trump’s Trade War
The damage to consumers and businesses includes a monthly deadweight loss of $1.4 billion, $12.3 billion extracted from the private sector in the form of tariff revenues, and, in 2018, $68.8 billion in lost economic activity.
Women’s Soccer is a Financial Loser
Though he spends much of the letter emphasizing the organization's commitment to "equal pay for equal work," Mr. Cordeiro indicates that the disparity in pay between the U.S. Men's National Team (MNT) and U.S. Women's National Team (WNT) is not what it seems at first blush.
On Transaction Costs
Transaction costs function just like any other cost--they ration the willingness of an individual to engage in some activity. They can take the form of financial costs, or, as in Dr. Boudreaux's example, they can take the form of inconvenience. In either form, they exact a cost above and beyond the price of the good or service one is purchasing.
Nothing Ever Really Costs “Too Much”
Given that we live in a world of trade-offs, neither you nor I will ever pay "too much" for any good unless we're forced to part with our money under the threat--explicit or implicit--of violent coercion.
Trade is Mutually–not Equally–Beneficial
Voluntary exchange is predicated on both parties being better off, in their own estimations, as a result of the trade, otherwise the trade wouldn't take place. Parity of consumer surplus is no part of that stipulation.
Fast Food, Women’s Soccer, and Consumer Preferences
In four of the last five years, the free choices of Wendy's-loving consumers like you pushed Wendy's revenue above that of Jack in the Box, and made Wendy's more profitable than Jack in the Box every year since 2014. In choosing the former over the latter, consumers perpetrated no injustice against Jack in the Box.
Taxes as Evidence of Ownership?
I've been thinking about the underlying logic, and I think I've developed a reasonable protest: the logical conclusion of this argument is that citizens are the slaves of their respective governments.
Non-political Representation
Sexual and racial similarities are an exceedingly shallow measure of representativeness, and to proclaim their fundamental importance is tremendously arrogant. It reduces hosts of individuals to nothing more than their gonads and the relative level of melanin in their skin, contra Martin Luther King, Jr.
Thoughts on the Electoral College
The election of a president in which the popular vote is at odds with the Electoral College is a rare event in American history. Given that the data from the last 40 elections indicates no consistent advantage in "swing states" for either party in the Electoral College, I see no compelling reason to believe that it should begin happening more often.
Ignore This 