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  • Published: 17 October 2019
  • ISBN: 9780241440834
  • Imprint: Penguin Audio
  • Format: Audio Download
  • RRP: $27.99

Daylight Robbery

How Tax Shaped Our Past and Will Change Our Future




Why the way we are taxed is broken - and what we need to do to make it work now and in the future

Brought to you by Penguin.

For most people, tax is something we pay, simply because we must. We seldom think much more about it, in fact, tax is something we'd rather forget.

But the reality is that tax is the key to power. No government can survive without tax revenue - it is the fuel that every state, large and small, runs on. Many of the problems we face today, not least the enormous wealth gaps between rich and poor and between generations, can be traced back to our systems of tax. If you tax windows, many will sacrifice their daylight. If you tax cigarettes, some people will choose not to smoke, others will take up smuggling. Tax companies too much and many will relocate off-shore.

In Daylight Robbery, Dominic Frisby will offer an alternative vision of a system that is as old as civilization itself. It will take you on a whirlwind journey through the history of taxation, from the Ancient Mesopotamia right up to the present day, explaining the key dynamics of taxation around the world and arguing that governments are going to have to radically change who they tax and how if they are to succeed in the future.

  • Published: 17 October 2019
  • ISBN: 9780241440834
  • Imprint: Penguin Audio
  • Format: Audio Download
  • RRP: $27.99

About the author

Dominic Frisby

Dominic Frisby is a comedian, an investment columnist for MoneyWeek and is a frequent speaker on gold and money on television, radio and at conferences. His first book, Life After the State, was published by Unbound in 2013.

Praise for Daylight Robbery

A brilliant book full of insights into how governments have fleeced us down the ages. This is a must read for anyone interested in how technology might at last tilt things back in favour of the citizen rather than the state

Douglas Carswell, MP for Clacton, Co-founder Vote Leave

With dazzling clarity, Frisby illuminates just how much of history is explained by arguments over tax, from Magna Carta to the American civil war to today's political debates. This entertaining, surprising, contrarian book is a tour de force

Matt Ridley, author of The Evolution of Everything

An engaging and informative trip through tax history that leads on to some radical suggestions for the future. A must-read for anyone thinking about how our tax system should be structured

Roger Bootle, author of The AI Economy

A great read

George Galloway, former Member of Parliament, broadcaster and bestselling author of I'm Not the Only One

A real page-turner! Dominic Frisby's historical interpretation and utopian ideas will outrage Left and Right. Both should read this book!

Steve Baker, MP for Wycombe, member of the House of Commons Treasury Committee

In this spectacular gallop through history, Frisby shows how taxation has warped, stunted and thwarted human progress. An absolute must-read for anyone who thinks higher taxes are the answer to our ills. Should be compulsory reading for anyone who aspires to high political office!

Mark Littlewood, Director General, Institute of Economic Affairs

A fascinating book which exposes the political and economic basis of tax. A must read for those of us who believe in simpler, lower taxes

Rt Hon Liz Truss, MP for South West Norfolk, Secretary of State for International Trade and President of the Board of Trade

It has been said that the income tax created more criminals than any other single act of government. Dominic Frisby masterfully delves into the fascinating topic of taxation, vividly bringing it to life

Jon Matonis Monetary Economist

An utterly gripping account of the impact of taxes on the course of civilisation

Simon Evans, Comedian

A fantastic education on the surprising ways tax policies have shaped mankind's past and will impact our future

Roger Ver, Chairman, Bitcoin.com

How when and where we pay tax affects everything - how and where we work, how we save, when we retire, whether we marry or not, whether we live in houses we own or not and sometimes even how many children we have. Few of us think properly about the way this shapes our lives and societies. With this well-written and hugely engaging book Dominic Frisby might be about to change that

Merryn Somerset Webb, Editor in chief of Moneyweek

Both amusing and informative, you'll come away with a much deeper understanding of what taxation is all about

Bill Bonner, bestselling author of Empire of Debt

Whether you think your taxes are fair or unfair, too high or too low, you need to read this book

Greg Moffitt, editor of New Thought

Highly readable

Luke Johnson, British entrepreneur and Sunday Times columnist

A hugely readable, well-researched book about the history, reality and future of tax, which can draw the occasional chuckle! Also an informative tome, which raises important questions about how and why governments are funded

James Roberts, Political Director at the TaxPayers’ Alliance

A book about tax, that is readable, fascinating - and fun! Sounds impossible, I know. But that's what Dominic Frisby has written

Liam Halligan, the Telegraph

This entertaining, easily read book will make you laugh and arm you for debates

Heather McGregor, Mrs Moneypenny, The Sunday Times

Frisby is a moonlighting phenomenon: a finance journalist by day and Edinburgh Fringe comedic star by night, he brings wit to the world of policy-wonkery in a way that is probably unique

Helen Dale, author of The Hand that Signed the Paper

Whatever your political leanings, you will find much to enjoy in this entertaining and educational romp through the history of taxation

Moneyweek

Please let's let Dominic Frisby loose on the Treasury!

Jamie Blackett, The Critic

a fascinating book...educational and fun. You will enjoy it!

Mish Talk, The Street

Fascinating book which exposes the political and economic basis of tax. A must read for those of us who believe in simpler, lower taxes.

Rt Hon Liz Truss, MP for South West Norfolk, Secretary of State for International Trade and President of the Board of Trade, Rt Hon Liz Truss, MP for South West Norfolk, Secretary of State for International Trade and President of the Board of Trade