Tuesday, June 19, 2007

That warm glow you get from paying taxes

It seems like Martin's RA taxes may actually be making us happier - as long as we accept that the purchase of fine tweed jackets is a worthwhile venture. The New York Times (free registration required) is reporting on research that people, or at lest 19 female students at the University of Oregon, experienced a "warm glow" when taxed - when some of their money was donated to a food bank without their consent.

The report in Science is here.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

If people would prefer that I channel the revenues into something more along the lines of a public good, then I'm open to suggestions. But I still think there is an aggregate benefit accruing from people looking at me walking around in my tweeds.

Kevin Denny said...

If paying my taxes would make anyone happy I am only considerate enough to allow them.