Freedom, Time Constraints and Progressive Taxation

In this paper I present a measure of freedom for opportunity sets which are bounded by both budget and time constraints. Then I show that, in a society in which income is distributed more unequally than leisure time, a government aiming at leaving freedom distribution unaltered should apply progressive taxation. Since incomes bind freedom only partially when time constraints bind, taxing the rich reduces his freedom proportionally less than taxing the poor reduces his. Moreover, when incomes are so high that only time constraints bind opportunity sets, income taxation can be very high without freedom being impaired.