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Taxing Inequality
More from the New York Times. Clothing manufactuers are suing; a gender based tax would be illegal so why do gender based tariffs still abound? Requiring equality in tax treatment can help to keep leviathan at bay, see Buchanan and Brennan's The Power to Tax.
Posted by Alex Tabarrok on April 28, 2007 at 09:54 AM in Economics | Permalink
Comments
Given that the differences in tariffs go different ways on different products (not always [or seemingly mostly, as far as I could tell from the article]higher tariffs on men's items or on women's items) the idea that there is "gender bias" here in any interesting sense is pretty dubious. I suspect it's a mixture rational and irrational reasons that explain the differences (as is the case for all tariffs) and that the idea that there is "gender bias" in any meaningful sense is nonsense. I'd rather get rid of the tarriffs or at least reduce them. But I'd like to see it done in an honest way, too, one that doesn't trvialized the real problem of gender bias.
Posted by: Matt at Apr 28, 2007 10:11:08 AM
What - do we really believe Leviathan will systematically adopt the lower rate of each pair?
Posted by: Michael Tinkler at Apr 28, 2007 11:00:04 AM
I find it funny that the government would like to let us believe that -we- are the criminals, that -we-, the public, are guilty of gender bias. Yet all I see is a male President, a famous Supreme Court Justice for being the first female, all male submarines (granted co-habitation isn't entirely feasible but an all female sub wouldn't be all that hard to manage), less qualified women getting jobs men should get because of affirmative action (the ultimate anti-white male propagandist machine), and so on and so on - all of it proof that it is in fact our government, not our people, who are gender bias. Unfortunately, this does lead to the apple not falling far from the tree, but it is worth differentiating the chicken and the egg.
Posted by: Miche at Apr 28, 2007 11:29:10 AM
Seems to be price related, lower priced goods being taxed at higher rates. Perhaps pricing needs to be fixed as well.
Posted by: Lord at Apr 28, 2007 3:15:30 PM
Whaaa. . .
Hey, I have the solution right here. Just get rid of the tariffs altogether. Whamo, that solves it right there.
I can't believe I'm not get paid for these ideas.
Next. . . .
Posted by: Ray G at Apr 28, 2007 7:34:43 PM
There are plenty of gender-based biases in our economy. For example women are charged less (or not at all) to get into many clubs and bars than men are. They're also let in at 18 when men have to wait to 21 in many cases, too.
Posted by: Will at Apr 28, 2007 10:38:23 PM
Does anyone else think that it is a tad bit dramatic to be invoking the "leviathan" over tariff rates?
I never knew Alex was such a drama queen. =)
Posted by: Viscus at Apr 30, 2007 12:31:49 AM
How is this form of sexual discrimination legal? If tariffs are necessary they should at least be equal.
Posted by: andi at Apr 30, 2007 3:38:32 PM
Price inequities have always existed with respect to men's and women's apparel, this is nothing new. Ex. dry cleaners charge more to wash and press women's blouses. A lot of women get bent out of shape about that but pressing men's shirt lends itself to automation, even manually, pressing men's shirts is formulaic. Women's blouses can have any number of features requiring specific attention (darting, tucks, shirring), thus taking longer.
Then, women's apparel is usually more expensive than men's (all things being equal). That's due to greater cycles of product development based on styling changes for women's clothing. Men's styling, is again, largely formulaic. Narrowing or widening a lapel, adding cuffs or eliminating them is child's play and not as costly.
There's greater competition in the market for women's apparel -hence the tariff inequities? Men's apparel is less competitive with regard to pricing with, fewer producers too. The dynamics of retail pricing of the two is different as well; men's is more static and women's clothing prices vary more with greater offsets and discounts (men are more likely to pay full price than women, so why discount it?)
Posted by: Kathleen Fasanella at Apr 30, 2007 6:46:14 PM
Importers of apparel and footwear, large and small, may be due a big tax refund.
Data mining analysis has determined US Importer’s have overpaid more than $1.3 billion in discriminatory taxes over the past two years. More than 40 importers have already filed a law suit to protect their interests.
Importers are using data mining analysis to precisely calculate their potential claim, secure the data necessary to protect their interests, and file a claim now to maximize their refund.
What’s your share of this potential multi-billion dollar refund?
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