>The issue is that the reason why governments have tax cuts for certain groups is because that's how they win votes.
Isn't that an oversimplification, though? Governments also use tax cuts to shape behavior.
Isn't that an oversimplification, though? Governments also use tax cuts to shape behavior.
If you put taxes on speculative trading, such traders won't vote for you -- but people who are against speculative trading will. If you give speculative traders a tax cut, the inverse happens.
It also obviously will shape behaviour, but if that was the only purpose then the government wouldn't be fulfilling their primary purpose: trying to stay in power as long as possible so they can achieve whatever they set out to do.