Seattle's Brazen Tax Grab Ignores the Unintended Economic Consequences

In his essay What Is Seen and What Is Not Seen, French economist Fri(C)di(C)ric Bastiat explained that all government actions have consequences that are both immediately seen, and also consequences that are unseen. ... In the instance of the new Seattle employment tax, the 'seen' is the revenue generated by the city through this new tax. But City Council members are so blinded by how this money can potentially decrease Seattle's homeless problem that they fail to see how this tax may also have negative implications.