Politics & Power Quote by William E. Simon

A good tax code is supposed to feel like architecture, not archaeology. William E. Simon’s jab lands because it treats complexity not as an unfortunate byproduct of modern life, but as evidence of capture: a system so layered with carve-outs, exceptions, and bespoke credits that it reads less like law than like a negotiated settlement among the loudest interests in the room.

The line’s genius is its faux-naive standard: “looks like someone designed it on purpose.” That’s a low bar, phrased as if we’ve failed even basic competence. It’s also a stealth indictment of Washington’s incentives. Tax policy is one of the few places where legislators can deliver highly targeted benefits while marketing them as “reform,” burying the cost in opaque rules and deferred revenues. Complexity becomes a political technology: it disguises who pays, who profits, and who gets to hire the consultants.

Simon’s context matters. As Nixon’s Treasury Secretary and later a conservative voice in the 1970s and 1980s, he watched the tax code balloon into a patchwork as both parties used it to subsidize favored industries and social goals without calling it spending. His quip isn’t just about elegance; it’s about legitimacy. A tax system that doesn’t “look designed” invites the public to assume it wasn’t designed for them.

The subtext: simplicity is not merely administrative hygiene. It’s a democratic demand. If ordinary citizens can’t understand the rules that govern their obligations, the state starts to resemble a members-only club with a cover charge called “compliance.”