The Agony of the Welfare State

The title of this post—minus the reference to Finland—is shamelessly copped from a prescient essay that Ludwig von Mises wrote in 1953.  In his article Mises pointed out that in Great Britain and Europe, the system of progressive taxation was already confiscating nearly the entire  “surplus” incomes of the successful capitalists and entrepreneurs, meaning that higher tax rates would no longer produce additional funds to finance these countries’ ever-expanding welfare states.  “Henceforth,” Mi...