ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

James Mirrlees

James Mirrlees was a very smart man who thought a lot about how rich people should be taxed by the government.

You may have learned about taxes in school – that's money we have to pay to the government when we buy things or earn money. But sometimes, the government wants to change how much money rich people have to pay in taxes. James Mirrlees had some really good ideas about how to do that.

James Mirrlees said that the government should ask rich people to pay a higher percentage of their money in taxes than people who aren't as rich. That's because rich people have more money to spare than people who aren't as rich. He also believed that the government should give money back to people who don't make a lot of money, so that they can still have enough money to live on.

James Mirrlees was very important because his ideas helped us understand how to make taxes fair for everyone.