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1/ Since federal taxes don’t pay for anything then

why do we pay federal taxes?

[A layperson tutorial to #LearnMMT, v3]

Background:
***The purpose of federal taxes: An overview.***

Federal taxes:
1. "Drive money" (or "drive the currency")
2. One of many tools for controlling inflation.
3. Impose moral decisions (higher to discourage, lower to encourage). 2/
***The purpose of federal taxes: The details.***

1. Federal taxes “drive money."

The federal government doesn't need your money (they’re the ones that gave it to you!). They need *you* to need *their* money. 3/
2. Federal taxes are one of many tools to control inflation. They can be increased to *reduce* purchasing power, and decreased to *increase* purchasing power. 4/
3. Federal taxes also impose moral decisions, where “morality” is defined by government, and government is defined by society – that is, us as a collective. 5/
6/ For example, we could increase taxes on gas guzzlers in order to discourage the use of fossil fuels. Alternatively, we could decrease taxes on solar panels and electric cars in order to encourage their use.
7/ We could also decide that our obscene wealth inequality is immoral and increase taxes on the super-rich. Importantly, this does not "take from the rich and give to the poor" – it only takes from the rich, which *indirectly* redistributes wealth.
8/ More information on the #MMT view of taxes by American economist L. Randall Wray: neweconomicperspectives.org/2014/05/taxes-…
9/ More on the #MMT view of taxes by American economist L. Randall Wray: neweconomicperspectives.org/2014/05/need-t…
10/ More on the #MMT view of taxes by Phillip Pilkington: nakedcapitalism.com/2014/08/taxati…
11/ More on the #MMT view of taxes by Australian economist Bill Mitchell (@billy_blog): bilbo.economicoutlook.net/blog/?p=10554
12/ More on the #MMT view of taxes by American economist L. Randall Wray (hosted by @DeficitOwls).
13/ More on the #MMT view of taxes by American economist L. Randall Wray (hosted by @DeficitOwls).
14/14 To #LearnMMT in general, here is a good place to start.
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1/ Chartalism

which is also called

The state theory of money

or in #MMT parlance,

"Taxes drive money"

[A layperson tutorial to #LearnMMT, v.1]
2/ Central gov'ts don't need your taxes to pay for stuff (state and local gov’ts do). They gave it to you in the 1st place! Why would they need it?

They don’t just "don’t need your money to pay for stuff," they **can’t possibly use** it to pay for stuff.
3/ The central government (or, “the state”), which is the one and only monopoly currency issuer, doesn’t need your money, It needs YOU to need THEIR money, and it does this by imposing taxes.

Why do they do this? So you do stuff that society needs doing.
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A repository of #MMT resources by @ActivistMMT.
@MMTResources
1/ "What is #MMT's theory of inflation?"

[#LearnMMT THREAD v.1]

First of all, very few of us understand what inflation really is, but almost all of us have a very good understanding what we fear it to be.
2/ #MMT's primary tool for fighting inflation is the job guarantee. You can learn more about that here.
3/ In particular, search for the term "inflation" on this page by economist Pavlina Tcherneva (@ptcherneva) who has been developing the #MMT-designed job guarantee for more than twenty years. pavlina-tcherneva.net/job-guarantee-…
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A repository of #MMT resources by @ActivistMMT.
@MMTResources
1/ Good question. Let's dive in.

[#LearnMMT THREAD v.1]
2/ The idea that our taxes pay for stuff* is a really insidious and evil idea, especially for traditionally disadvantaged populations.

*We're only talking about the federal level here. Taxes definitely pay for stuff at the state and local levels.
2/ They don't need your taxes to pay for stuff. They gave it to you in the first place! Why would they need it?

They need *you* to need *their* money, and they do this by imposing taxes.
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