Any well-trained economist is tempted to say that this question is not well posed, or that neither statement is really true, or something like that. But this is meant to be a psychological gauge of one’s predispositions, not an analytic exercise. So humor me and write down your answer. I will get back to it in a minute. Now, back to border taxes. There is no doubt in my mind that the broad issue addressed in this paper is an important one. In Washington policy circles, a common argument is that Europe’s value-added taxes (VATs) are adverse to American trade interests. After all, the European VAT taxes imports and exempts exports. From the mercantilist perspective that (unfortunately) dominates public discussion of trade, what could be worse that a policy that encourages American imports and hurts American exports? Needless to say, Washington policy circles are not dominated by PhD economists steeped in general equilibrium theory and the Lerner symmetry theorem. I recall one conversation I had about this issue with a colleague when I worked in the Bush administration. He was not an economist, but rather an Ivy League-educated lawyer. He was a smart guy with a lot of experience in the policy and politics of international trade negotiations. I told him that economists don’t view value added taxes thatway, that equilibrium exchange rates adjust to ensure that these border taxes do not impede trade. I recall his response: “Yeah, I have had a lot of econ-

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任何训练有素的经济学家都想说这个问题没有很好地提出，或者这两种说法都不是真的，或者类似的话。但这意味着一个人的倾向的心理衡量标准，而不是分析练习。所以幽默我并写下你的答案。我会在一分钟内回到它。现在，回到边境税。毫无疑问，在我看来，本文所讨论的广泛问题是一个重要问题。在华盛顿政策圈，一个普遍的论点是欧洲的增值税（VAT）不利于美国的贸易利益。毕竟，欧洲增值税对进口征税并免除出口。从（不幸的是）主导贸易公开讨论的重商主义观点来看，有什么比鼓励美国进口和损害美国出口的政策更糟糕的呢？不用说，华盛顿政策圈并不是由沉浸在一般均衡理论和勒纳对称定理中的博士经济学家所主导。我记得我在布什政府工作时与一位同事就这个问题进行过一次谈话。他不是经济学家，而是受过常春藤盟校教育的律师。他是一个聪明人，在国际贸易谈判的政策和政治方面拥有丰富的经验。我告诉他，经济学家并不这样看待增值税，均衡汇率会进行调整以确保这些边境税不会阻碍贸易。我记得他的回答：“是的，我有很多经济 他不是经济学家，而是受过常春藤盟校教育的律师。他是一个聪明人，在国际贸易谈判的政策和政治方面拥有丰富的经验。我告诉他，经济学家并不这样看待增值税，均衡汇率会进行调整以确保这些边境税不会阻碍贸易。我记得他的回答：“是的，我有很多经济 他不是经济学家，而是受过常春藤盟校教育的律师。他是一个聪明人，在国际贸易谈判的政策和政治方面拥有丰富的经验。我告诉他，经济学家并不这样看待增值税，均衡汇率会进行调整以确保这些边境税不会阻碍贸易。我记得他的回答：“是的，我有很多经济