Contributors:
Economists
Project Manager:
Lucille Negre
Objectives:
The students are asked to devise a portrait of France based on the question “What constitutes a good tax?” To answer this, the classes will be responsible for conducting an inquiry – inevitably partial and somewhat subjective – but nevertheless as close as possible to the economic and social realities raised by the issue.
Workshop:
Agreements and disagreements
Today’s taxes are the result of a long political and cultural history that the students will study in detail. Using a timeline of major events, they analyse the emergence of taxation based on principles that they examine: citizenship, equality, solidarity and consent. But taxation also raises a great deal of controversy. The contributor and students study a body of speeches, demands and political decisions before picking out the main arguments and ideas put forward by each.
The good, the fair and the tax
Who pays what? Using practical examples (single person, family, couple, business owner, minimum-wage employee, manager), the class measures the impact of fiscality on the incomes of these different profiles. The students visualise the social and economic effects of taxation and measure potential inequalities. Then, using graphs and tables, they outline the policy of redistribution in France. Admittedly, effective taxation requires a high yield, but it must also contribute to national solidarity. What do these figures tell us on a national scale? Do the students think resources are redistributed fairly?
Possible futures
Well informed after this research, the group conducts some experiments adjusting the essential parameters to devise different systems: changing tax rates, removing tax brackets, widening tax bases, adding taxes, etc. But to what ends? The students are then able to take a position and understand the topic’s main issues. They can offer their vision of “good” tax and the values it assumes. At the end, the students explain what our taxes say about who we are and what we collectively want.
Participating Schools:
- EDOUARD HERRIOT, LIVRY GARGAN
- FRANÇOIS MITTÉRAND, NOISY LE GRAND
Photos: DAMIEN DELDICQUE, JÉRÔME AUBRY & ALEXANDRE SCHUBNEL, LABORATOIRE DE GÉOLOGIE DE L’ENS PARIS.
Avec la période de confinement, les démarches initiées en collège ont connu quelques changements, également quelques aménagements et surprises. Le moment est venu de présenter ce qui a été finalisé par les élèves, les enseignants et les intervenants. Cet espace de diffusion rapporte nombre de témoignages visuels, sous des formats à la fois fixes et animés, et invite les visiteurs à une découverte différenciée : en cela par projet identifié ou d’une manière plus aléatoire.