Re: (OPE-L) taxation and public finance in Marxian literature

From: Paul Cockshott (clyder@GN.APC.ORG)
Date: Sat May 15 2004 - 16:16:03 EDT


On Wednesday 12 May 2004 11:55, Ernesto Screpanti wrote:
> It might be useful to recall that Marx and Engels, in the Critique of the
> Gotha Program, proposed  a social policy of public expenditure "for the
> common satisfaction of needs, such as schools, health services etc. From
> the outset this part  [of the total product of society] grows considerably
> in comparison with present-day society and grows in proportion as the new
> society develps." In the Manifesto  Marx and Engels also proposed a fiscal
> policy based on  "a heavy progressive or graduated income tax". Both
> measures are envisaged as part of a process of building of a communist
> society.
> It is interesting to note that Engels intepreted progressive taxation as
> embodying the principle "from each according to his ability". On the other
> hand, the public provision of goods at low or zero price allocates
> resources on the ground of the principle "to each according to his needs".
>

In this sense European social democracy has already incorporated many
communist principles.


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