This has meant, has had to mean, steadily rising tax rates in virtually
every country, with at most occasional, slight reductions. But, of course,
at a certain point, such redistributive taxation reaches levels where it interferes
seriously with the possibility of accumulating capital. Hence the
reaction today to what is perceived as the ‘fiscal crises of the states’ is for
capitalists to demand a rollback and to seek popular support on the
grounds that individual taxation is also rising sharply. The irony is that
while there is often popular support for limiting taxes, there is zero
popular support for cutting back welfare provisions (either of education,
health or income guarantees). Indeed, at the very time that there are
clamors about high taxation, the levels of popular demand on government
services are growing. So here, too, we have a structural pressure on
the accumulation of capital.