Arguments without substance

Comments on Meganomics Blog “Giving a little will gain a lot more”, 4/09/2010, http://blogs.theaustralian.news.com.au/meganomics/index.php/theaustralian/comments/giving_a_little_will_gain_a_lot_more/
There are very different and opposing views on the mining tax, that is, the RSPT.

We've seen a bunch of so called leading or eminent economists writing an open letter in supporting it and the Greens asking for an even higher mining tax on the one hand. On the other, we've seen some arguing that it was a stupid idea coming out of some Canberra bureaucrats with no sense of the real world and that international investors were holding their investments and many talked about the so called sovereign risks.

So problems with such a serious divide lie in that they haven't got or don't have a clear and consistent set of criteria what a good tax is to judge the RSPT.

Those economists and commentators arguing it was a good idea or tax just compared the two cases superfacially that left many details out, that is, a tax on resources either based on either price or profit. Obviously that kind of approach clearly has a problem. For example, no one would/could argue for an 100% tax rate, but that is among the profit based tax set.

Those on the other side haven't articulated a clear set of criteria to base their case either.

There was a lack of quality there.

That has been a serious problem in that debate.