Citation
The main economic views of Wagner as a representative of the new historical school in Germany were introduced in the previous article, "Representatives of the German Historical School and Their Economic Views". The article also mentions that Wagner's greatest theoretical contribution is in the field of finance, and he is known as the founder of modern capitalist finance.
It was originally planned to write only a short article about Wagner's theoretical contributions in the field of finance, but when collecting and digesting relevant materials, it was found that Stein, Schaefler and Wagner were called the three giants of Germany's fiscal science in the second half of the 19th century. The three also belonged to the Social Policy Society of the New Historical School of Germany and jointly founded the tax theory system of the Social Policy School.
It is not surprising that the Social Policy Society of the New Historical School of Germany has made outstanding achievements in the field of finance. Because the school of German history has its roots in Germany's state economics. It can be said that nationalism is the political core of the German school of history. Wagner has emphasized the dominant position and role of the state in the economy. In a civilized society, the public functions of the state should be constantly expanded and increased.
Stein, Schaefler, and Wagner were rich in fiscal and taxation ideas, and many of them are still relevant, not to mention some of the designs of the tax system that are still in use today. This article briefly introduces the financial and tax ideas and main views of the three superstars.
Stein
洛伦茨·冯·施泰因(Lorenz von Stein,1815-1890),德国经济学家,社会哲学家。 (注:Stone也有译为"史泰因")
Stein's ideas on finance and taxation focused on the Textbook of Public Finance and Public Finance, published in 1860. His other works include Socialism and Communism in Modern France, The System of Political Science, Administration, Management, The Handbook of Management, and The Law and Politics of Germany Contemporary and Future.
Hegel is one of the representatives of classical Germany philosophy in the 19th century. He comprehensively and systematically expounded Germany's national philosophy. Stein embraced Hegel's philosophy. He believed that the France Revolution promoted the formation of a capitalist industrial society and promoted the progress of social history. But capitalist industrial development has also led to the polarization of the social structure, and the conflict between labor and capital has intensified. It is for this reason that socialists criticize and even attempt to overthrow the capitalist system.
Stein believed that the continuous progress of social history should not come from violent social movements, and that the political impetus for social reform should come from the integration model of the power state, and the mutual checks and balances between social administration and social organization should be realized. He advocated the transformation of the "legal state" into a "social state", through the power state to mediate social needs and social interests, and solve social problems, as a way out of overcoming the crisis of industrial society.
Based on the above understanding, Stein constructed his own theoretical system of finance and taxation, the main contents of which are as follows:
Theory of State Functions: The state is expanding its administrative functions in all areas of the national economy and state life. Finance and taxation are an important part of the state organism. (Note: Some articles use the term "finance", while others use "finance.") I think the meaning of the two is basically the same. As a non-professional article, this series makes no distinction between the two. ）
According to the "positive" concept of state finance, state finance has three major administrative functions: first, to regulate the life of the country; the second is to maintain order in the life of the country; The third is the economic power that "reproduces" self-consumption by itself. For the third function, Stein put forward the theory of the productive and tax reproduction of state expenditures.
The doctrine of tax reproduction: all citizens should pay taxes to the government, and the government should provide material goods and services to all citizens. The amount of the tax shall be equal to the material goods and services provided by the State to the population. When this kind of input and output forms an organic cycle and is sound and powerful, the country's economic power increases.
Taxation should contribute to the capital formation of all individual economies, and the economic power that bears the burden of taxation is formed by all individual capitals, which is the wealth of the nation. If state taxation strengthens the productive forces of individual economies without hindering capital formation in individual economies, it will consolidate the foundations of the national economy and promote the formation of additional sources of national revenue.
Stein proposed three principles of taxation:
1. Economic principles. Taxation should be based on income generated by capital. No tax should be levied on capital per se, let alone heavily taxed, otherwise it would hinder capital accumulation.
2. Fiscal principles. The amount of taxes to be paid must not exceed the actual total needs of the state. Tax administration should minimize the cost of levying taxes.
3. Principles of the national economy: that is, the view of tax reproduction, forming a virtuous circle of "economy-tax-economy".
Shefler
Albert · Schaffle's main works are Principles of Taxation Policy and Taxation Theory. (Note: Schaffle is also translated as "Shevley")
Scheffler believes that the economic society is a national economic organism formed by the organic combination of all individual economies and countless sectoral economies, including the private economy and the common economy. The common economy is a personified group or organization (such as the state, local public bodies, etc.), the most important of which is the economic activity in which the state is the main body to provide material materials and public services, that is, the national economy. Therefore, "the supreme principle of fiscal science is that the needs of the state must be balanced and sufficient at the same time as the needs of the non-state, so that the national economy must also be balanced and sufficient." ”
Scheffler's interpretation of taxation is that individual economies are taxed regardless of whether or not they benefit from public bodies, and that individual economies share the financial contributions of public welfare funds for public bodies based on their obligations as members of society.
In his view, the ability to pay taxes should be the principle of taxation. The state levies taxes on all those who have the ability to pay taxes on the basis of their actual ability to pay.
Although the source of tax revenue is income and property, it is difficult to realize the principle of tax capacity by taxing only income and property. He advocated the establishment of a tax system in which direct and indirect taxes were parallel.
Direct taxes are taxes levied on average tax-paying capacity; Indirect tax is a tax levied on the basis of an individual's specific ability to pay taxes, and the combination of the two can realize the principle of tax capacity. (Note: Direct tax refers to the tax levied on the income or property of taxpayers, such as personal income tax, enterprise income tax, property tax, etc.; Indirect taxes are taxes levied on consumers by businesses or businesses that produce and sell goods or services, such as consumption tax, value-added tax, customs duties, etc. ）
He also advocated a progressive taxation system for a small number of high-income and wealthy assets, with a regressive tax on low-income earners. Progressive tax rates allow for a rational allocation of resources between state and private needs, and the redistributive effect of taxes can be used to regulate the allocation of income and property.
Sheffler was one of the first economists to propose the principle of tax-paying capacity and a progressive tax system. He played a pioneering role in the development of fiscal theory in Germany.
Wagner
Adolf · Wagner (1835-1917) was the master of finance at the Society for Social Policy and the founder of modern capitalist finance. His main works include: "Course of Political Economy", "Principles of Political Economy", "Public Finance", and "Social Policy Trends of Thought and Forum Socialism and State Socialism".
According to Wagner, the state is a product of history, a coercive community that sits on top of and from which all individual economies are united. He was not satisfied with Smith's formulation of the three functions of government, nor did he agree with the classical economics view of the "free state". He stressed that the State should also develop the functions of culture, education, culture and social welfare, and that the State should be a "social State".
(Note: According to Smith, the function of government is mainly threefold: to protect society from infringement; protect everyone in society from others; Construction and maintenance of certain public utilities and facilities. These are what today are known as national defense, public order, and public service. ）
Wagner's law. After examining and analyzing the industrial economy and public expenditure in United Kingdom and Britain, France, Germany, Japan and other countries at that time, Wagner predicted in 1882 in the form of "Wagner's Law": With the continuous development of industrialized society, the number and proportion of government departments in economic activities will increase, and public expenditure will continue to grow. This law is also known as the "Theory of Expansion of Government Activities". The Wagner Law is confirmed by statistical analysis of economic development data in many countries.
Wagner pointed out that as long as the requirements of the state's functions are met, even temporary fiscal imbalances are fine. It is feasible to use public debt for public utilities, as long as it generates revenue in the future.
Wagner further argues that when national income grows, fiscal spending increases in a larger proportion. As per capita income increases, the proportion of government expenditure in gross national product (GNP) will increase, which is the relative growth of fiscal expenditure.
He attributed the reasons for the increase in government spending to two aspects:
The first is political factors. With the industrialization of the economy, the relationship between economic agents has become increasingly complex, and the demand for laws related to commercial contracts has continued to grow, requiring the government to increase public expenditure for the construction of the judicial system and market management.
The second is economic factors. Industrial development promotes urbanization and population densification, and more resources need to be invested in urban management, public security and other public utilities. In addition, the high income elasticity of demand for education, culture, leisure, health care, and welfare services also requires the Government to increase spending in these areas. (Note: Demand-income elasticity means that public spending in these areas will grow faster than GDP.) ）
(Note: Wagner's explanation of the increase in government public spending is reasonable and in line with the realities of socio-economic development. But his analysis of why public support should grow at a higher rate than GDP or GNP is far from sufficient. Borrowing the analytical method of historicism, it can be seen that Wagner's law adapted to the needs of the Bismarck government's imperialist policy of strengthening the state apparatus and expanding economic intervention in order to intensify internal repression and external expansion, and became the theoretical basis for the imperialist financial policies of various imperialist countries, including Germany. ）
Wagner pioneered the theory of taxation in social policy. The core viewpoint of this theory is twofold: First, the activities of the state are productive, and fiscal expenditure is also productive, and fiscal expenditure should be expanded. Second, taxation is not only for the purpose of obtaining fiscal revenue, but also for the purpose of using taxes to intervene in the distribution of income and property, to correct the unfair distribution of social wealth, and to adjust social policies.
Wagner's definition of taxation is: "Taxation, in a fiscal sense, means the compulsory collection of taxes from individuals by public bodies in accordance with general principles and norms and in such quantities as unilaterally determined by the public bodies in order to meet their financial needs, by virtue of their sovereignty, as a general reward for the transactional facilities of the public bodies; In the sense of social policy, the so-called tax is a levy levied for the purpose of correcting the distribution of national income and national wealth, and correcting the consumption of personal income and personal property, while satisfying the financial necessity, or whether it is financially necessary. ”
He further proposed that in order to effectively regulate the distribution of personal wealth and property, a progressive tax system should be introduced.
The tax system designed by Wagner. Starting from the idea that taxation can correct the distribution of income and wealth, he designed three types of tax systems:
1. The income tax system that taxes the income or property obtained by the taxpayer, such as corporate income tax, personal income tax, and inheritance tax.
2. All tax regimes that tax income or property held by taxpayers, such as property tax
3. The use tax system (or consumption tax system) that taxes the income or property of the taxpayer during the period of use.
The tax principle of "four items and nine ends". In order to better formulate and implement the objectives of social policy taxation, Wagner proposed four major and nine-point taxation principles. The details are as follows:
1. Fiscal revenue principle: the principle of adequacy of taxation; the principle of flexibility in taxation;
The principle of flexibility means that taxation should be adapted to changes in the country's fiscal needs. For example, when state spending increases or other revenues decrease, tax revenues can be increased naturally or by law (e.g., by raising tax rates or introducing new taxes) to accommodate such changes.
2. Principles of the national economy: the principle of correct selection of tax sources; the principle of the correct selection of taxes;
Income (income), capital, and property that can be used as a tax source is the most appropriate tax source. If taxes are levied on capital and property, it may weaken the tax capital and the foundations of the national economy.
We should try our best to choose taxes that are not easy to pass on, so as to solve the problem of rational distribution of taxes. However, Wagner is not completely opposed to tax pass-through, he holds the view of "relative transfer", holding that whether taxes can be passed on depends on factors such as the degree of free competition in market transactions, and that the direction and degree of pass-through are difficult to predict in advance and difficult to investigate after the fact.
3. Principles of social justice: the principle of universality of taxation; the principle of equality in taxation;
The principle of universality means that all nationals who enjoy the benefits provided by the state should pay taxes. However, from the point of view of social policy, relief may be granted to those who earn little or no income from labor.
The principle of equality means that taxes should be levied equally according to their ability to pay taxes. The taxation of property income should be heavier than that of labor income; "Unearned gains" or incidental income should be heavily taxed; The basic income necessary for the survival of the lower classes should be reduced or exempted.
4. Principles of tax administration or technical principles of taxation: the principle of clarity in taxation; the principle of convenience in taxation; Principle of minimum charge.
Wagner's principle of fiscal revenue considers the adequacy and elasticity of fiscal revenue; He regarded the national economy as a tax principle, and emphasized that both tax sources and types of taxes should be premised on the protection of tax capital; He also highlighted the principles of social justice, emphasizing the role of taxation in regulating social distribution and correcting distributive injustice, as a core of social policy taxation theory. These views are positive and progressive, and have made significant contributions to the development of fiscal and taxation theory.
[Postscript: I initially believe that the socialist market economy is different from the capitalist market economy in two major characteristics: first, the group of state-owned enterprises that continues to expand and is not entirely for profit; The second is a fiscal and taxation system that places more emphasis on social policy objectives. This article is the first introductory article in this series on the topic of finance and taxation. Fiscal and taxation issues will continue to be discussed in the future. 】
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