Our Society Reimagined 2021: Taxes
Our Society Reimagined is a four-week series that provides an opportunity to explore the domestic issues that have shaped our modern society, as well as a chance to gain perspective on the underlying values and ideas that we hold as individuals and as a society, and how these tenets shape our lives.
The 2021 series will take place virtually from 6:00-7:30 pm MT on Wednesdays, October 20, October 27, November 3, and November 10.
Tom Morrison and Clint Kinney will return to moderate the series.
Session 2: Wednesday, October 27
Taxes
While we can debate the appropriate size and role of government, few would argue that taxes are not an essential (yet unfortunate) element in funding the common good. We have dozens of types of taxes, all of which create winners and losers. In addition, each form of taxation has economic pros and cons. Should state income taxes be eliminated to drive economic growth even though it appears to unfairly benefit those with higher incomes? Are sales taxes unfair because they fall disproportionally on lower income people? Should taxes be used to redistribute income? Are property taxes the best way to fund education? Should taxes be used more broadly to incentivize the common good, for example, renewable energy subsidies or penalizing carbon taxes? How do we decide what governmental costs should be covered by user fees versus general taxes? What’s fair in determining estate taxes as an added layer of tax for wealthy families? In our highly charged political environment, how do we resolve the basic questions of fairness and economic efficiency in our approach to taxation?
Registration for Our Society Reimagined is now closed. If you’d like to put your name on the waitlist, please email Zoë Brown at zoe.brown@aspeninstitute.org.