Publication: Fiscal pessimism in historical perspective : Tocqueville revisited
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2016-12
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Abstract
This paper explores Alexis de Tocqueville´s thought on fiscal political economy as a forerunner of the modern school of preference falsification and rational irrationality. Although he initially shared the cautious optimism of most Classical economists with respect to taxes under extended suffrage, Tocqueville's view turned more pessimistic in the second volume of his Democracy in America. Universal enfranchisement and democratic governments would lead to higher taxes, more intense income redistribution and government control. Under democracy, the continuous search for unconditional equality would eventually jeopardized liberty and economic growth.
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Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America, Report on Pauperism, Extension of the franchise, Ricardian fiscal optimism, Social rights, Fiscal capacity, Income redistribution, Tocqueville's Cross, Preference falsification, Enfranchisement, Mores, Rational irrationality, Equality