Why taxes?

You woke this morning to learn that George Mason University has seceded from the United States and established itself as an independent country henceforth known as the Republic of George Mason. Your group is the new government. The success or failure of your experiment with independence may well rest on the decisions you make here today.

Below I pose a series of questions. Meet within your group work space and use the following procedure to address each question. First, designate a leader who will manage the group space for each question and post your group’s response on the course forum for this exercise on Blackboard. Second, brainstorm ideas in response to the question. Brainstorming involves simply throwing out as many ideas as you can think of. No evaluation is allowed. Just come up with ideas. Third, go back and evaluate the ideas you generated. Think about pros and cons. Try to play devil’s advocate and argue for a position you don’t support or against an idea you put forward. Fourth, post your group’s final answer to the course forum set up for the question. Finally, read and respond to the postings of at least two other groups.

Societal goals and government roles (The group leader should post your group’s answers to these questions by Day 2 of Week 1. Include both your list of brainstormed ideas and what you eventually selected and why.)

1. What are the goals of your society? Think about the first question from the standpoint of aspirational statements. Picture your ideal society, and describe it. What characteristics would it have? Think adjectives here.

Remember – the first step is brainstorming, and the second step is evaluation and decision making.

2. What is the role of government in this society? Think about the second question from the perspective of what government should and shouldn’t do. When should government have a hand and when should it stay away?

Remember – the first step is brainstorming, and the second step is evaluation and decision making. Are some social goals better achieved by collective action than individual action? Does this affect your thinking about the role of government?

Funding the government (The group leader should post your answer to this question by Day 2 of Week 1. Include both your list of brainstormed ideas and what you eventually selected and why.)

1. How are you going to pay for your government and its actions? Now that you have identified what you want your government to do, you need to think about how you are going to pay for it. I’ll jump in and suggest that taxes are one option. But taxes are only one option. How else can you raise money? Think about what your country is and what it has at its disposal. Be creative!

Remember – the first step is brainstorming, and the second step is evaluation and decision making. When you evaluate, think about how each possible revenue-raising method would work in the short term and the long term.

Designing a tax system (Your group leader should post your answers to these questions by Day 3 of Week 1. Include both your list of brainstorming ideas and what you eventually selected and why.)

OK. So let’s assume you decided that taxes are a pretty reasonable way to raise some money to run your government. Now it’s time to