Shibboleths of the 'ideal' tax system

The time-hallowed principle of focusing on direct taxes is worth questioning

The late Chinese bossman, Deng Xiaoping, the man chiefly responsible for the country’s rise to economic success, is credited with the aphorism that it does not matter what the colour of the cat is as long as it catches mice. The importance of this practical idea — that getting things done is more important than theories and ideologies that underpin them — is particularly relevant at a time when all the things we took for granted in the 20th century start crumbling under the weight of their own contradictions. Belief in free trade, globalisation, electoral democracy, capitalism, communism or Keynesian