[tn13]

That is very shallow logic. If there is a land tax, any product or service that uses land will become more expensive for everyone. Whatever gain in productivity we might get by making vacant lands usable will be simply negated by the loss in productivity due to the land tax.

Also, taxation is meant for government to run to do its primary duties and not affect the market forces.

[arfar]

>Also, taxation is meant for government to run to do its primary duties and not affect the market forces.

I don't think this is the case for every tax. Look at the different carbon tax systems. This is a tax to try to drive the market towards greener solutions/products.

I guess an argument could be made that the tax is a way to quantify damage to the environment done and the money it's going to take to repair it, but I don't think that's the way most people see it.

[tn13]

I dont agree with any logic behind the carbon taxes however, there is good case for taxation in case of pollution. The key problem with pollution is that no single person owns the air or water bodies and hence no one minds degrading it even thought everyone loses collectively.

This is a very hard problem to solve and taxation may not be one of those. If US government puts stronger restriction on US companies, they lose the competitive edge against Chinese and Indian who do not have to pay any such tax.