In this episode, we first travel 2,000 years to the Roman Empire to see how they taxed luxury goods. Then we travel to the United States of the 90s to see how the Luxury Tax, approved by Congress in 1990, backfired. After that, we will check on how things are going in Canada, just two weeks ago, to see how we learn nothing from past mistakes. And finally, we will go back to the Roman Empire. All of this while trying to understand fundamental economic concepts such as direct and indirect taxes, progressive and regressive taxation, elastic and inelastic supply and demand, and tax incidence. Tax incidence is the key concept for today's episode.

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In this episode, we first travel more than 4,000 years to ancient Mesopotamia, mostly modern-day Iraq. I will first describe the slow death of the Sumerian gods, and in the second half of the episode, their revival as an unintended consequence of Iceland’s tax system. Yes, cold and windy Iceland.

A necessary note: this episode is not about the Anunnaki, as popular as that subject may be. Also, talking about the disappearance of the Sumerian religion is talking about thousands of years of Mesopotamian history with its peoples, cities, and rising and falling empires. I will do my best to summarize this, and if you have ever been intrigued by the evolution of this region in ancient times, you will certainly enjoy this first part of the episode.

Although two suspicious brothers are involved in the story, the unintended consequence of Iceland’s religious tax was the revival of a religion long forgotten from faraway foreign lands. Perhaps the ancient Sumerian gods Enlil and Inanna were not offered proper ritual this time, but, somehow, they came to life in the Icelandic Zuist Church. Coming from Southern Iraq, I bet they expect to reappear next time in a warmer climate.

Support the show

Thank you for listening. For additional information and social media links, you can visit https://www.thecobraeffectpodcast.com

You can support the show on Buy Me a Coffee or become a monthly member. Links on the website. You help me to cover my costs, and your contribution keeps this project going.

Feel free to reach out via social media or email. The email address is contact@thecobraeffectpodcast.com

I would appreciate hearing your questions, comments, or suggestions for future topics. See you in two weeks for another episode of The Cobra Effect Podcast.

In this episode, we first travel 2,400 years back to ancient Athens, where the playwright Aristophanes satirizes the notion of communal property leading to reliance on slaves. But the central theme of the episode is the town of New Harmony, in Indiana, United States. Founded in 1825 by Robert Owen, a Welsh reformer and philanthropist, his idea was to create a society without poverty or individualism through the collective sharing of property and production. Despite initial optimism, New Harmony collapsed by 1828 due to inefficiency, scarcity, and mismanagement, mirroring later 20th-century communist failures. Owen’s vision of equal remuneration regardless of contribution led to low productivity, surveillance, and punishment of dissent, as noted by his son Robert Dale and others. Historical parallels in other places of the United States in the 19th century, including Étienne Cabet’s Icarian communities and Brook Farm, further illustrate the recurring failure of such collectivist experiments. Aristotle’s ancient critique in “Politics” underscores this, arguing that shared property receives minimal care —a lesson reiterated by New Harmony’s demise, which highlights the unintended consequences of utopian collectivism.

For a full list of sources and other relevant links, please see the Full Transcript of this episode.

Support the show

Thank you for listening. For additional information and social media links, you can visit https://www.thecobraeffectpodcast.com

You can support the show on Buy Me a Coffee or become a monthly member. Links on the website. You help me to cover my costs, and your contribution keeps this project going.

Feel free to reach out via social media or email. The email address is contact@thecobraeffectpodcast.com

I would appreciate hearing your questions, comments, or suggestions for future topics. See you in two weeks for another episode of The Cobra Effect Podcast.