All these premises having, as I think, been clearly made out, it is impossible that the rulers now on earth should make any benefit, or derive any the least shadow of authority from that, which is held to be the fountain of all power, Adam's private dominion and paternal jurisdiction; so that he that will not give just occasion to think that all government in the world is the product only of force and violence, and that men live together by no other rules but that of beasts, where the strongest carries it, and so lay a foundation for perpetual disorder and mischief, tumult, sedition and rebellion, (things that the followers of that hypothesis so loudly cry out against) must of necessity find out another rise of government, another original of political power, and another way of designing and knowing the persons that have it, than what Sir Robert Filmer hath taught us.

Two Treatises of Government.

What makes organizations so similar? We contend that the engine of rationalization and bureaucratization has moved from the competitive marketplace to the state and the professions. Once a set of organizations emerges as a field, a paradox arises: rational actors make their organizations increasingly similar as they try to change them. We describe three isomorphic processes-coercive, mimetic, and normative—leading to this outcome. We then specify hypotheses about the impact of resource centralization and dependency, goal ambiguity and technical uncertainty, and professionalization and structuration on isomorphic change. Finally, we suggest implications for theories of organizations and social change.

The iron cage revisited: Institutional isomorphism and collective rationality in organizational fields (Chinese Translation)

Anarchy, state, and utopia

Capitalism and Freedom

A recent literature has constructed top income shares time series over the long run for more than twenty countries using income tax statistics. Top incomes represent a small share of the population but a very significant share of total income and total taxes paid. Hence, aggregate economic growth per capita and Gini inequality indexes are sensitive to excluding or including top incomes. We discuss the estimation methods and issues that arise when constructing top income share series, including income definition and comparability over time and across countries, tax avoidance, and tax evasion. We provide a summary of the key empirical findings. Most countries experience a dramatic drop in top income shares in the first part of the twentieth century in general due to shocks to top capital incomes during the wars and depression shocks. Top income shares do not recover in the immediate postwar decades. However, over the last thirty years, top income shares have increased substantially in English speaking countries and in India and China but not in continental European countries or Japan. This increase is due in part to an unprecedented surge in top wage incomes. As a result, wage income comprises a larger fraction of top incomes than in the past. Finally, we discuss the theoretical and empirical models that have been proposed to account for the facts and the main questions that remain open.

Top Incomes in the Long Run of History

This paper compares current deaths in the United States due to the Corona virus with those caused by seasonal influenza. The study found that seasonal flu has killed 15 to 21 times as many people as the Corona virus in the first 10 weeks of 2020.

Is the Corona Virus More Serious Than Seasonal Influenza?: A Look at the Data

Each May, Forbes magazine publishes a study on tax misery. The Forbes Tax Misery Index is a proxy for evaluating whether tax policy attracts or repels capital and talent. It is computed by adding the top marginal tax rate for the corporate income tax, individual income tax, wealth tax, employer's and employee's social security tax and value added tax (VAT). The higher the total, the more the misery. Some taxes are omitted, such as the real and personal property tax and excise taxes. The 2007 Index was used for this study. Fifty-six countries are ranked. The present study examines the data for the transition countries from Eastern and Central Europe and the former Soviet Union that were included in the Forbes study, plus China. Comparisons are then made with European Union countries to determine which set of countries has to endure the most tax misery.

A Comparative Study of Tax Misery and Tax Happiness in Transition Economies and the European Union

All governments need money in order to pay for the cost of operations. There are a number of ways that they can obtain the funds they need. Economies that are emerging from central planning to a market system are in a unique position in this regard - some would say enviable - because they have not built up large, burdensome tax collecting bureaucracies over the years. The tax systems in western democracies, on the other hand, have become ever more complex, inefficient, and difficult to manage. In the USA, for example, tax laws are passed and later amended, then amended again and again. Because laws are easier to pass than repeal, the volume and complexity of the tax law grows with each passing year, to the point, where the system is in danger of collapsing of its own weight. Over time, the tax laws have become more complex and more obscure.

https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/Delivery.cfm/98031602.pdf?abstractid=96388&mirid=5&type=2

Principles of Taxation for People Who Have Principles

Several Congresses have passed various forms of minimum tax, both at the individual and corporate level. They have even passed alternative minimum tax bills to squeeze out additional tax revenue that would not otherwise be forthcoming. The problem was caused by the philosophy of taxation they have adopted over the years. 
Rather than have the tax law function solely as a way to raise the revenue needed to keep the government running, various special interest groups and social do-gooders have persuaded Congress to incorporate much social engineering into the tax code. There are special provisions for oil companies, farmers, manufacturing companies, small business, homeowners, heads of household, families, sick people, blind people, people with children, and on and on. 
This article will examine the other side of the coin. Whereas numerous commentators have been yapping about some kind of minimum tax in order to increase their perceived view of equity, no one is talking about establishing a maximum tax to ensure that no one pays too much more than their fair share (whatever that is). Thus, the need for this article.

The Case for a Maximum Tax: A Look at Some Legal, Economic and Ethical Issues

David Hume's views on economics are expressed in his Essays, Moral, Political and Literary, Part II (1752). He was a contemporary of Adam Smith and read Smith's The Wealth of Nations shortly before his death. Some commentators have suggested that Hume exercised some influence over Smith's views on economics. Other commentators are not so sure. Hume's commentators over the last 200 years have emphasized his theory of knowledge, doctrine of causality and belief, theory of morals and historical writing. His views on economics have been relatively neglected. The purpose of this essay is to summarize and clarify Hume's views on economics.

Robert W. McGee

Papers

Is the Corona Virus More Serious Than Seasonal Influenza?: A Look at the Data

A Comparative Study of Tax Misery and Tax Happiness in Transition Economies and the European Union

Principles of Taxation for People Who Have Principles

The Case for a Maximum Tax: A Look at Some Legal, Economic and Ethical Issues

The Economic Thought of David Hume: A Pioneer in the Field of Law & Economics