Hunter: You’re right that there’s plenty to dislike about a VAT (and as I said, I don’t concede that we need more taxes); it’s just that other taxes are even worse. Economists like VATs because they’re efficient and trade-friendly. (No less than Art Laffer has proposed a system that pairs a flat income tax with a VAT.) More direct consumption taxes, like the “Fair Tax,” are also among the less-bad options.
