17:45 - 20:00
Friday-Panel
Chair/s:
Lucy Barnes
Discussant/s:
Jochen Rehmert
Meeting Room P

Lucy Barnes, Anna Killick
Values, Theories and Pragmatism: the Economic Ideas of British and German Politicians

Paul Marx
Why is it so difficult to tax the rich? Evidence from German policy-makers

Kris-Stella Trump
The role of perceived fairness in shaping attitudes toward redistributive policies
Discussant: Bjorn Bremer
Why is it so difficult to tax the rich? Evidence from German policy-makers
Paul Marx
University of Duisburg-Essen

Why are rich citizens not taxed more heavily – despite growing inequality (aversion)? Several explanations for this puzzle exist at different analytical levels: voters’ decision-making, party-interest-group linkages or international competition. Crucially, all of them ultimately work through the minds and actions of politicians and, hence, through economic ideas. Taking Germany as a case, we therefore ask which obstacles left-wing politicians perceive in taxing the rich. In 25 semi-structured interviews with actors from parties and interest groups, we tease out subjective accounts for the failure to tax the rich. Overall, tax increases are perceived as unpromising political projects. Organized business interests are described as a major barrier, but in a way that goes beyond most existing accounts: besides classical lobbying, business interests are seen to influence electoral politics through long-term communication strategies that shape public opinion on tax issues. Moreover, the interviews point to a previously unrecognized barrier: organizational dynamics within left-wing parties around the production of tax competence. Left-wing politicians are often overwhelmed by tax issues which results in consequential disadvantages when confronted with resourceful anti-tax actors. They describe how party-internal discourses shape these competence patterns by influencing motivations, feasibility perceptions, and electoral strategies.