Economics back tax increase.

• Author: Zelenski, Jim
• Position: Letter to the editor

Robert Schwab has said what too few Coloradans have had the courage to say. (Why Reagan was wrong," Web Exclusive column, posted online Oct. 23, 2006). And the CATO Institute paper reinforces his point. The ideological "anti-tax" crowd is utterly penny-wise and pound-foolish. I say this not based on compassion, but on hard-nosed economics.

There are some goods that are public in nature, meaning that the market will produce too few of them (from the standpoint of efficiency) if left unregulated or unassisted. We all become better off if essential public infrastructure--both capital and social, is provided by the public sector.

I also want to congratulate you for what I consider a truly...