Newton’s Third Law of Motion

Years ago (in a prior lifetime it seems) while taking a course in political science, after looking at various laws and their consequences about midway through the course, I said to the professor that it seemed like political laws have an attribute similar to Newton’s third law of motion. To wit: “For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.” He said that that was right and years ago some political philosopher (politics is a major branch of philosophy) had written about this. I wish I remembered the name he gave or had written it down. But ever since, I’ve often looked for this phenomenon.

One example of this was the 1990-1991 federal luxury taxes. Starting in 1991, Washington levied a 10 percent tax on cars valued above $30,000, boats above $100,000, jewelry and furs above $10,000 and private planes above $250,000. Democrats like Ted Kennedy and then-Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell crowed publicly about how the rich would finally be paying their fair share and privately about convincing President George H.W. Bush to renounce his “no new taxes” pledge. Well the result of this was a disaster. It wasn't long before even those die-hard class warriors noticed they'd badly missed their mark. The taxes took in $97 million less in their first year than had been projected — for the simple reason that people were buying a lot fewer of these goods. Boat building, a key industry in Messrs. Mitchell and Kennedy's home states of Maine and Massachusetts, was particularly hard hit. Yacht retailers reported a 77 percent drop in sales that year, while boat builders estimated layoffs at 25,000. With bipartisan support, all but the car tax was repealed in 1993, and in 1996 Congress voted to phase that out too.

It has been noted that FDR’s infamous social security act has its negative consequences too. Personal saving rates decrease every time the benefit is increased, and it is producing a balloon of payments-owed by the federal government as the baby boomers retire and collect.
The Community Reinvestment Act has wreaked havoc in the housing and mortgage industries.

Raising the minimum wage invariably causes some unemployment among those earning the least.

The 18th amendment to the U.S. Constitution had to be repealed by the 21st amendment because it spawned so much criminal activity.

I truly believe that legislators sometimes forget to realize that men will act as a rule, in any given circumstance, in their own best interest.