A Legal Laffer Curve?

So many laws to enforce, so little time

Could there be such a thing a 'Legal Laffer Curve'? What I mean is, a point where there are so many laws that the State cannot possibly enforce them and their agents start to wilt under the pressure of trying to do so. From then on the whole thing starts to go downhill and the lawlessness begins to grow uncontrollably.

Has that point been reached?

David Carr may be on to something.

The Laffer Curve essentially states that a there is a point where tax revenue can be maximized when the tax rate is set somewhere between 0% and 100%. The theory is based on the idea that at 0%, there is obviously no tax revenue to speak of, but similarly, at 100% people will simply stop doing the activities that generate tax revenue because the all fruits of their labor are taken from them. So there must exist a balancing point where tax revenue can be optimized.

Now, I don't believe the maximization of tax revenue should be a goal for any government, but the idea does demonstrate the dangers of believing the primary solution to tax revenue problems is to increase the tax rate (or by extension, a tax's reach), being that the people under the taxation yoke will choose to do things that do not result in their product being taken from them.

The Curve also has some interesting potential social applications.

Regarding the increasing proliferation of laws the police must enforce, I think this is an obvious point to make. Unless we are willing to put up with an larger police state where the cops-to-noncops ratio approaches 1:1 closer than ever before (and I'm not), the solution is to scale back the law so it only proscribes the fundamentals such as murder, theft, and fraud. Not only would this bring our legal code into a more moral light, but it would also make more resources available to fight these crimes.

Posted by Drizzten at October 11, 2003 03:58 PM