@realcaseyrollins funding the government is just regulating demand. the government doesn’t need cash — it is the source of that. but if it just prints cash, there’s too much demand and thus inflation. thus one important role of taxation is to regulate demand, to make sure the cash it spends into the economy, along with other factors, don’t undermine the real value of the money it prints. i agree with you that taxes like sales or value-added taxes are one good way to do that.