Senator Russell B. Long quoted in Money in July 1973, “Don’t tax yourselves, don’t tax me, tax the guy behind the tree,” in many different versions. The idea is to tax someone else to raise the revenue the government seeks, not me. Each election brings more intense debate about who or what should be taxed and at what rate. This has resulted in an incredibly complex tax code that runs to thousands of pages and employs a large portion of tax specialists to help taxpayers pay off their tax debts so they don’t have to talk to an IRS compliance officer. Tax collectors have been unpopular for thousands of years.

From 1973 through Q2 1981, “inflation” was chosen as the “single most important problem” from a list of nine problems. In Q3 1981, “financing rates” became the top problem and held the top spot until Q1 1983, when “poor sales” replaced it. In Q1 2000, “job quality” missed the top spot by four percentage points, and “taxes” held the top spot until Q3 2008. In Q3 2008, “inflation” topped the list for one quarter, then “poor sales” took the lead until Q1 2013, when “taxes” and “government regulations” shared the lead. In Q2 2022, “inflation” reclaimed the top spot. Overall, “inflation” was the top concern in 19% of quarters, concentrated in the oldest and newest quarters, while “taxes” won in most quarters over the 50-year period. Currently, “inflation” ranks first, followed by “quality of work” and then “taxes.” A recession will catapult “poor sales” to first place (as it did in 2008).

All of these problems are related to the government, either directly through taxes and regulations or indirectly through the quality of work (the education system certainly plays a role). The recent elections have led to an all-time high in regime changes and have caused major political changes that are reflected in the volatility in the graph. The upcoming elections will soon show how economic and social policies will soon change again.