The explainers at Vox tweeted this Thursday as if it were some sort of shocking revelation — breaking news, even:
Bizarrely, tax and spending policies in parts of the developing world actually increase poverty. https://t.co/4QXDEaw2SR
— Vox (@voxdotcom) May 24, 2018
“Bizarrely,” writers Charles Kenny and Justin Sandefur found that their “radical proposal to fight poverty in the developing world: tax the rich more than the poor” can actually “exacerbate poverty in the poorest countries”
It’s true:
… new data on taxation and spending in the world’s poorest countries suggests that progressive tax-and-transfer systems are far less common than you would think. In general, taxes are less progressive in those countries, financial transfers are much smaller, and the bulk of social spending is soaked up by broken health and education systems. The net effect is often that tax-and-transfer policies leave poor people worse off, not better.
You don't say? https://t.co/asS4gPEsNR
— Senate Popular VotEEE (@EEElverhoy) May 24, 2018
No way! https://t.co/r1Z9JvB7mB
— Tom Burkart ❗️ (@tomburkart) May 24, 2018
— Ken Gardner (@KenGardner11) May 24, 2018
<insert shocked face> https://t.co/mPlloSpYRB
— Jedi Ghost Wisconsin Irish James (@blackdoglurking) May 24, 2018
No…? pic.twitter.com/OzCnBXsS7m
— E.Stanley.Thurston (@mrgoody_2_shoes) May 24, 2018
No one could have guessed this. https://t.co/ETz39rByWL
— Lone Conservative (@LoConservative) May 24, 2018
https://twitter.com/_azmi/status/999694644618424320
Basic economics are bizarre to Vox. https://t.co/T4l9dpPzd7
— Aaron Bandler (@bandlersbanter) May 24, 2018
When the facts become bizarrely too true to ignore… https://t.co/oVli5vI5Yt
— julia desrosiers (@julzdesrosiers) May 24, 2018
Bizarrely. https://t.co/U384wy9sDJ
— Chad Felix Greene (@chadfelixg) May 24, 2018
https://twitter.com/rh_thompson/status/999663616688381952
"Bizarrely"? Don't you mean "As expected, as we were warned a thousand and one times…" https://t.co/7Bcj579dSb
— Hikikomori Quisqueyano (@xchixm) May 24, 2018
BREAKING: water is wet. Story at 11 https://t.co/bNey4dpaw0
— Michael Ihle (@DelegateIhle) May 24, 2018
https://twitter.com/TZelly4/status/999668739162308608
https://twitter.com/Moj_kobe/status/999661117306646529
The hell you say! ?
..
which Vox employee took an economics class yesterday?— WhichWitch (@JeffersonTeaPar) May 24, 2018
Wait you can’t tax a nation into prosperity! ? https://t.co/1YnSueafNn
— Peter Huminski (@ThoriumWealth) May 24, 2018
Bizarrely? Pretty sure that quite a few people have been telling you this for a long, long time. Your blind ideology forced you to bury your head in the sand. https://t.co/9y9HcVEpoi
— Alloutta Fuckstogive (@goingdeeep) May 24, 2018
What the hell do you mean "bizarrely"? I'm a lefty too, I'm in favor of higher taxes for state-provided amenities; assuming the market can handle it. Otherwise yeah, it increases poverty. https://t.co/tHefOzxaRR
— CKOTOMHΔΗC ΔΑΡΚCΕΙΛΟC (@TotalGyros) May 24, 2018
Almost like reducing inequality isn't the same thing as reducing poverty or something. But what do I know? I'm just one of the beneficiaries of market capitalism, the greatest destroyer of material poverty in human history. https://t.co/anHZqaANxO
— Jay Slater (@JayGSlater) May 24, 2018
Related:
'Economically ignorant headline': Vox dazzles with scorching hot take on energy supply and demand https://t.co/uAMYZGrX1B
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) April 5, 2018
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