Is a Mandate a Tax?

This topic (from an earlier post) has also attracted the blogosphere (see Greg Mankiw's blog) with more substantive economic analysis having been provided in a 2001 paper by Larry Summers. The answer: it depends on how people value the mandated benefit. For those who do not value health care very highly, the mandate is a tax and is a cost to be avoided since it provides no benefits--until they get sick when they can become free riders.