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What is government for?

The reactions of different governments to the epidemic have highlighted, yet again, that the time is now overdue to ask fundamental questions about the purpose of government. How about this as a starting point: that government should confine itself to doing what no other body can do? In this connection we have to bear in mind that disputed areas such as teaching, and care of the sick and poor, were, before the Reformation, carried out under the umbrella of the Catholic Church.

Following on from there is the need for debate on how the expenses of government should be paid for. The present tax system is essentially a structure of fines and penalties for successfully engaging in legal economic activity. That cannot be good for the moral health of the nation, since taxes are the fiscal expression of the relationship between  individual householders and the government.

A useful starting point for this discussion is Adam Smith’s chapter ‛On the sources of revenue’, in the original text, not an edited version. Smith’s is not the last word on the subject, but libertarians and others on the political right will find it surprisingly uncomfortable.

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