Quote:
Originally Posted by cRiPpLe_rOoStEr
Even if the total taxation is still more expensive than it could be with a simpler regulation, people get happy when they think they "hacked" the system to pay fewer than they were supposed to. They may be even more screwed, but that feeling of "having taken an advantage" is enough for most of them. In Brazil it's known as "Gerson Law", because of some cigarettes advertisement featuring a soccer player named Gerson claiming to enjoy taking advantage on everything.
|
Brilliant observation. It's the same mechanism at work when products are "on sale". Psychologically we feel like we've got a good deal when something manipulates our expectation that it would have cost more.
I thought about starting a product line that intentionally mocks this absurd quirk in human choicemaking. I'd have labels that say "compare with a price of 1 billion dollars", or "product contains no anthrax". All those marketing gimmicks that really say nothing about the product, or the value of it.
Jason points out why we have the absurdity we do, and I maintain a consistent rational perspective that I'm against ALL of the special interest parts. Name anything in the tax code, including the things I greatly benefit from, and I'm against it.