Taxation without representation

ENAR

For 12 years running, Lebanon has been without a budget. This does not mean the state hasn’t been collecting revenue and spending it. Rather, it means there have been no clear-cut priorities, nor a strategic vision guiding how the government manages taxing and spending. During the past five years, the problem of finding revenue to finance raising public sector wages has been the only issue discussed in the budget “debate.” While it’s fiscally prudent to consider how to offset increased spending with increased revenue, a laser-focus on this one issue is myopic, and gets us no closer to a sound fiscal policy that would benefit the wider economy. The fact that three separate governments have spent five years mulling how to raise taxes suggests our lawmakers’ fiscal policy is limited to ensuring minimal government spending needs are met. The state’s continued failure to provide basic, uninterrupted services proves we do