Government and Hidden Taxes: Consumers Have the Power to Make Government More Competitive

You may be asking how consumers could have power to make government more competitive.  First, let’s agree that there has to be a choice for competition to exist.


In major metropolitan areas, where there is a major city as well as nearby cities, sometimes referred to as suburbs, there is the potential for consumers to put these city governments in the position of competing for the available consumer spending dollars.

Consumers who are able to, who live their lives so as to have choices, may even move from one city to another nearby city for a variety of reasons.  In making this kind of a decision to relocate, these consumers are putting nearby cities in a position of competing with each other for where people want to live.

The same is potentially true for neighboring counties where consumers, employees, and even business owners or managers feel they are in a position to live in one county and work or shop in a neighboring county.

As an example, take the neighboring cities of Tacoma, Washington and Federal Way, Washington.  One is in Pierce County, and the other is in King County.  Yet they actually share a small border that is both a county line border and their city limits border.  Also, they are so close to each other that people who live in one may choose to work and shop in the other.

Each of these two cities have shopping malls with major retailers.  So here we have an example of two cities or two counties that are close enough together for consumers to feel free to live in one and shop in another.  If the prices of the stuff consumers buy are very close to being the same, then the main difference in the final price paid by consumers will be the amount of the transparent taxes added on at the time of purchase.

If one city or county has a significantly higher combined transparent tax rate than their neighboring city or county, and if consumers are regularly willing to drive from one to the other, then the government with the lower combined transparent tax rate would more often be where consumers with a choice would go to buy the stuff they want or need.

In this way, consumers are making neighboring governments compete for where they choose to live, shop, and even work.

Thank you for taking time to read and ponder my opinion on this topic.
An Opinion Article by Dave Kemper
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It has been said that: "One definition of insanity is to do the same thing, the same way, over and over and over again, each time expecting to achieve a different result."
Therefore, we must either CHANGE the way we live, or we bind our future to our past as if with CHAINS.
"I do not consider myself to be better than anyone else.  But I do believe in exercising my right to not stay stupid."

David W. Kemper, Author
© Copyright 2014 by David William Kemper.  All right reserved
No part or portion of this publication may be modified in any manner without the express written permission of the author.  Quoting from this publication is allowed on condition that the name of the author and the name of the publication are included.