Econ sit-com

Econpoint had a contest to come with up an econ sit-com. My favorite response (and one of the top vote-getters) starts like this:

William is an economics professor at a small university in Pennsylvania. He specializes in taxation, but has been having trouble getting published. Unfortunately, the theoretical knowledge of the impacts of taxes was of little use in practice. He made a few critical mistakes on his taxes forms and got in some legal trouble.

William's friend, Paul, is another professor at the university. He mostly teaches law, but also teaches a course in Austrian economics. Due to Paul’s background in law, William decided to bring him along for the hearing.

This decision turns out to be costly for William. Paul sees a chance to strike a blow against the government. Instead of simply explaining how William made a mistake and getting him off with nothing but an obligation to pay his back taxes, Paul gives a lecture on the anarcho-capitalist’s view of taxation. He starts off with a rather dry explanation of dead-weight loss and perverse incentives, but his passion escalates as he characterizes taxation as a form of theft whose existence persists only because of the state’s monopoly on force. He finally reaches a fiery crescendo and calls William a warrior for freedom for standing up to the state.

Read all the entries here, and see the voting here.