L'Etat, c'est la grande fiction à travers laquelle tout le monde s'efforce de vivre aux dépens de tout le monde. Frédéric Bastiat

mardi 28 février 2006

TAXE SUR LES BILLETS D'AVION

L'idée de prélever une taxe sur les billets d'avions pour financer l'aide aux pays pauvres gagne du terrain et ne fait pas que des heureux.

Et pour cause, c'est une très mauvaise idée :

The tax will penalize the very people intended to profit from it and divert attention from proven methods of fighting poverty, such as lifting barriers to trade. (...)

It is far from assured that the tax will raise extra funds for development. Most developed nations already set aside money for development aid from general taxes. Five nations have gone above and beyond the UN target of allocating 0.7 percent of gross domestic product for this purpose: Norway, Luxembourg, Denmark, Sweden and the Netherlands. High-level international arm-twisting may coax other countries into going along with the scheme. But to ease the pain of a new tax, some countries will be tempted to cut foreign aid raised from general taxes. (...)

There is a better way to increase funds for crucial antipoverty initiatives: Remove barriers to trade, investment and entrepreneurship in an open market. More specifically, bring the World Trade Organization's Doha round of trade negotiations to a successful conclusion by the end of this year. (...)

By reducing air traffic, an airline tax will have the opposite of its intended effect by reducing revenues available for development. The European Commission foresees airline demand will fall 4 percent if a 10 euro levy is added to international flights. Bear in mind that France will charge up to 40 euros for these journeys A slump in air traffic will be felt across a wide swath of the developing world. Many of these countries rely heavily on tourism revenues for economic growth.