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Victoria's electric vehicle tax and the theory of the second-best

  • Written by: John Quiggin, Professor, School of Economics, The University of Queensland
Victoria's electric vehicle tax and the theory of the second-bestAlexandru Nika/Shutterstock

One of the central ideas in tax policy is the principle of the second-best.

Economic theory gives us a good idea of what an ideal tax system would look like, given our objectives. But in real life, things fall short.

It might be thought that piecemeal reform, moving some taxes closer to the ideal, would be a step in the...

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