Introduction -- Federal income taxes : funding the welfare state -- Cigarettes : creating crime through taxes -- The minimum wage : promoting teenage unemployment -- The fruits of alcohol prohibition : poison booze, crime, and corruption -- Be careful what you wish for

For many observers the beginning of a dynamic economic and stock market upswing in the U.S. in the mid 1990s marked the start of a new era, the times of the new economy. This phenomenon has been under intense discussion ever since - both in the political arena as well as among scientists....