Description
According to Adam Smith, whose insights still underpin economics as a discipline to this day, taxation is justified by the government’s ability to fulfill needs which cannot be supplied by the market and otherwise intervening to create efficiency and efficacy. While Smith’s recommendations and policy analyses were limited by his economic model and by the economic and technological development of his time, his principles are still very much applicable to the modern day. It is abundantly clear that Smith argues the vast majority of the market should be left alone to the natural incentives of the private sphere, however he does still envision a role for government which creates and enhances economic inefficiency, and provides still relevant guidelines for avoiding ill-advised policies which imprudently tax the wealth of nations.