I studied economics through the backdoor, starting with game theory, then (around 2008, because "no one saw it coming") generalizing to economics, political economics and politics.
If you go that way, you will inevitably end up subscribing Austrian economics (and also libertarian justice/politics) which is basically a non-existent area in mainstream economics but is the only consistent theory and kind of automagically leads to many of Taleb's criticisms (e.g., second order effects).
For the interested I recommend as an introduction:
- Atlas shrugged (A. Rand, for those who have time)
- Economics in one lesson (H. Hazlitt, for those who don't have time)
Hmm, it's a minefield for me to speculate about your reasons :)
Maybe you can elaborate a little more what changed your mind?
One good reason for your vote would be however that DT and HC were close to 0 on most scales you could think of (economic understanding, morality, diplomacy, consistency) so you were in a hard position to begin with.
Hell, I would've probably voted the same.
Btw I also feel that I softened my stance due to
- a much better financial position (e.g., if you earn 20k p.a. then 30% tax is a lot; but the same tax rate affects you much less if you earn 80k)
- kids and other things to care for and worry about
For the most part, based on my observations, I have realized that libertarian economics is not going to create an ethical society - the one that I would want to live in myself, for example.
I still apply the same basic principles in my politics - i.e. that personal freedom and lack of regulation is a good thing in and of itself, but regulations can be a necessary lesser evil to mitigate some greater evil. Thus, society should have "just enough government", and no more than that. I just draw the line on what is "enough" much further to the left than I used to - enough so to firmly identify as left-wing by now on the basis of policies that I end up supporting with this justification (e.g. socialized healthcare, UBI, some anti-discrimination laws).
As far as tax rates, I'm not sure I get it... who pays a 30% tax off $20k annual income? Unless you include all taxes, such as sales. But then the logical response would be to replace sales taxes with income or property taxes (i.e. make the tax system less regressive), not necessarily to campaign for lower taxes overall.
If you go that way, you will inevitably end up subscribing Austrian economics (and also libertarian justice/politics) which is basically a non-existent area in mainstream economics but is the only consistent theory and kind of automagically leads to many of Taleb's criticisms (e.g., second order effects).
For the interested I recommend as an introduction:
- Atlas shrugged (A. Rand, for those who have time) - Economics in one lesson (H. Hazlitt, for those who don't have time)