A Note on the Concept of Excess Burden

It is argued that there has been a shift in the meaning of "excess burden" from Pigou to modern economics, related to what is used as a reference point when the effect of a tax is discussed. Is it the situation before the tax was introduced or what would have happened if a lump sum tax had been used instead? This distinction is important for tax policy, since the latter reference point leads to a larger, sometimes much larger, numerical value for the excess burden. However, the distinction is not often clearly made and this has led to risks for misguided political decisions on taxes. It is further argued that when excess burden and efficiency losses are discussed, economists have neglected to discuss the meaning of “can”, or “possible”, when the Pareto principle is formulated. Is it reasonable to say that welfare "can" be improved by a lump sum tax instead of a "distortionary" tax if, as most economists seem to believe, such a tax is not a realistic alternative? Since conceptual clearness about the excess burden of taxes is important, some suggestions for improving the situation are also presented.Excess burden; Pigou, distortion; lump-sum tax

Attachment and coping in psychosis in relation to spiritual figures

Background: Studies have found higher levels of insecure attachment in individuals with schizophrenia. Attachment theory provides a framework necessary for conceptualizing the development of interpersonal functioning. Some aspects of the attachment of the believer to his/her spiritual figure are similar to those between the child and his/her parents. The correspondence hypothesis suggests that early child-parent interactions correspond to a person's relation to a spiritual figure. The compensation hypothesis suggests that an insecure attachment history would lead to a strong religiousness/spirituality as a compensation for the lack of felt security. The aim of this study is to explore attachment models in psychosis vs. healthy controls, the relationships between attachment and psychopathology and the attachment processes related to spiritual figures. Methods: Attachment models were measured in 30 patients with psychosis and 18 controls with the AAI (Adult Attachment interview) in relationship with psychopathology. Beliefs and practices related to a spiritual figure were investigated by qualitative and quantitative analyses. Results: Patients with psychosis showed a high prevalence of insecure avoidant attachment. Spiritual entities functioned like attachment figures in two thirds of cases. Interviews revealed the transformation of internal working models within relation to a spiritual figure: a compensation process was found in 7 of the 32 subjects who showed a significant attachment to a spiritual figure. Conclusions: Attachment theory allows us to highlight one of the underlying dimensions of spiritual coping in patients with psychosis