For some reason, Congress thinks it can encourage foreign tourists to visit the United States by charging them more to do so.
Following the lead of the House of Representatives, the Senate has passed a bill that would fund an overseas tourism promotion campaign, to the tune of $100 million. But the federal government would get that $100 million from a $10 fee that it would charge to visitors from dozens of countries.
Backers of the legislation — which President Barack Obama unfortunately intends to sign — say they are concerned that the number of foreign tourists visiting the United States has declined in the past few years. But we have to wonder whether making it more expensive to come here is a sensible means of luring in those tourists.
Besides, the tourism industry itself — rather than government — ought to be footing the bill for overseas tourism promotion. Government’s role ought to be limited to making the visa process as simple and inexpensive as possible for potential visitors — while of course maintaining all reasonable security measures to keep out terrorists and criminals.
With this latest legislation, Congress again appears to believe that taxes and fees are just “free money” for the taking. But that’s not how economics works. If you tax something more, you will get less of it.