DMCA
Taxes and Torts in the Redistribution of Income (2002)
| Venue: | University of Chicago Law School, John |
| Citations: | 1 - 0 self |
BibTeX
@INPROCEEDINGS{Weisbach02taxesand,
author = {David A. Weisbach and David A. Weisbach},
title = {Taxes and Torts in the Redistribution of Income},
booktitle = {University of Chicago Law School, John},
year = {2002},
pages = {148}
}
Share
 |
 |
 |
 |
||
OpenURL
Abstract
When I was asked to give the Coase lecture, it presented somewhat of a puzzle. The lecture is supposed to introduce a topic in law and economics to first year students. I teach tax law and generally do not teach first year students. What would I have to say to them? Notwithstanding that the tax law is virtually never mentioned in first year courses such as torts, contracts, and property, or more generally in common law jurisprudence, I will argue that the tax system is actually central to thinking about such topics. The thesis is that the presence or absence of the tax system completely changes how one thinks about basic subjects. The reason why this is so is because the tax system plays a central role in the redistribution of income or wealth. In thinking about legal rules, we must ask whether they should be designed to redistribute or whether they should merely be efficient. For example, we might want to know whether we have pro-tenant landlord/tenant rules on the theory that tenants are systematically poorer than landlords. Should we have pro-consumer warranty rules on the theory that consumers are systematically poorer than producers? And should we have pro-plaintiff nuisance rules?
