US Shift Toward Consumption Tax

Rising entitlement obligations make a broad consumption tax (VAT or equivalent) politically and fiscally plausible in the United States, and existing measures—tariffs and state sales taxes—are serving as practical experiments. The argument reframes tariffs and trade policy as not just protectionist tools but as potential national revenue mechanisms that would spread tax burdens more widely across income levels. — If true, a shift from income‑based to consumption‑based revenue would reshape progressivity debates, redistribution politics, and the social contract around Social Security and Medicare.