In: Economics
4) Your city is committed to raising $100 million for a new arena. The mayor suggests putting a tax on taxicab rides since out-out-towners disproportionately use taxicabs. Evaluate the wisdom of this policy decision.
Soltution:-Here
given statement is your city is committed to raising $100 million
for a new arena. The mayor suggests putting a tax on taxicab rides
since out-out-towners disproportionately use taxicabs The tax on
taxicab rides shifts the supply curve up by the amount of the tax
(a fixed amount if there is a fixed tax per ride).
The price of cab rides rises, passing some of the tax on to
out-of-towners. However, the price rises by less than the amount of
the tax, from to and not to + tax. The failure of the price to rise
by the amount of the tax means that taxicab drivers pay some of the
tax. If the elasticity of demand for cab rides is large enough, the
cab drivers may have to pay a substantial amount of the tax. If
this happens, the tax is not a good idea. Furthermore, the concept
of tax fungibility suggests that even if out-of-towners do pay the
majority of the tax, this revenue could be used to finance other
projects in the city besides the stadium or be used to reduce other
taxes paid by local residents.