Taxation as an Instrument for Modifying Inequalities in Distribution

It has been claimed that the economist of to-day has prevailed upon the Parliamentary mind and as a result " without interfering with, or abrogating, the essential elements of freedom in the policy of laissez faire and without assuming the awkward and dangerous responsibility for fixing prices and incomes, Parliament has interfered materially with the distribution of wealth, has done much to secure a better distribution and has done more probably in the present century to solve the problem of poverty than any previous generation or any other country has been able to do."*