The art of taxation, wrote Jean-warfare and standing armies-by far the Baptiste Colbert, an adviser to greatest expense of government until re-France's Louis XIV, "consists in so cent times. During this century, especially plucking the goose as to obtain the largest since World War 11, tax burdens have possible amount of feathers with the small- grown dramatically, and taxation has ac-est possible amount of hissing." quired two new uses: "stabilizing" domes-
Over the centuries,...