Why did The Lantern decide to publish an opinion piece on economics from a student at the University of Mississippi? Albert Scovell’s column on Wednesday regurgitates the arguments for eliminating taxes on interest income while maintaining taxes on hourly pay.
Why should an office or factory worker making, say, $20,000 per year, pay taxes while someone who receives the same amount (or even $2,000,000) of income from dividends pay no taxes? Mr. Scovell, agreeing with President Bush, insists the idle rich are being taxed twice.
If that same office or factory worker needs to drive to work, he or she must buy a car, using money left over from their paycheck after it has been taxed. If they finance the car, they will make monthly payments from money that was already taxed, and pay interest on top of that.
They buy gasoline, which is taxed, from their already taxed income, to go to work. They help the economy because they work 40 hours per week for about 50 weeks per year, providing 2,000 hours worth of goods and services.
The idle rich investor doesn’t buy gas to go to work and provides no production of goods or services. I distinguish between the “idle” rich, and those who invest in and run small businesses. The latter provide goods and services (and jobs) and deserve tax breaks. Scovell and President Bush make no such distinction.
By the way, Mississippi has lower taxes than Ohio and has since before the Civil War, so a direct comparison is possible. Ohio has better schools, highways and social services and less poverty than Mississippi.
Price Robert Cope,OSU staff
