Here’s a special opportunity for those Australians who think that, even though the federal government is already slugging them for $10 billion more than it needs to finance its spendthrift programmes, they would nevertheless like to give it some more money. It is the Higher Education Endowment Fund, in which part of the Budget surplus will be stashed, and legislation introduced yesterday will make public donations to it tax deductible.
Sadly, this looks like more evidence that my comrades in Canberra have lost the plot. I doubt even lefties think people should donate money to the state, or even if they do are not so delusional as to think that anyone would.
If you would like to give money to universities any of them will take your gift without spending needing to be first approved by the Minister. And you still get your tax deduction.
Andrew Norton 
Well, if, as you observed in recent weeks, Clive Hamilton is happy to argue that paying taxes is a civic duty akin to charity donations, then it seems that there is, at least, one leftie who could be called upon to put his money where his mouth is.
After all, if one claims the “marginal social utility” of an extra dollar of government spending is positive when that dollar is appropriated, it must be also be positive if the dollar is given voluntarily, yes?
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That is rather humerous. Obviously someone was bored at work and had to find something to do, and presto, we have some new legislation. I’m sure many trees will die for that.
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Are they going to do the same for the Future Fund, so we can make sure the government employees have their superannuation entitlements covered?
Seriously, that’s one of the strangest things I’ve ever heard of. How about we make paying our own (or our kids’) university costs tax deductible before considering before inviting voluntary taxation to a fund to cover the government’s obligations to universities?
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Anyone thought of asking Clive if he’s made his donation yet?
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Nah JC, he’s too busy advocating YOUR donation.
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There’s no need to donate money to the government – just burn it, and the effect is roughly the same.
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How is the effect the same, Andrew?
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Andrew L – Burning it may have *better* effects than some of the things going on at the moment, such as stuffing up Tasmania’s health system or funding time-wasting plebiscites in Queensland.
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Well, if your aim is to make everyone else better off, then giving money to the government allows them either to lower taxes, or increase expenditure. By contrast, burning the cash increases the value of everyone else’s money holdings.
When I said that they’re ‘roughly the same’, what I meant was that in the giving case, the benefits are proportional to how much tax you pay (or the government expenditure you receive). In the burning case, the benefits are proportional to how much money you hold.
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So Andrew if we burned our money we would all become instanly wealthy? Really? haha!
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