Q11.6 In 1990, Congress adopted a luxury tax to be paid by buyers of high-priced cars, yachts, private airplanes, and jewelry. Proponents saw the levy as an effective means of taxing the rich. Critics pointed out that those bearing the hardship of a tax may or may not be the same as those who pay the tax (the point of tax incidence).

Explain how the elasticities of supply and demand in competitive markets can have direct implications for the ability of buyers and sellers to shift the burden of taxes imposed upon them. Also explain how elasticity information has implications for the amount of social welfare lost due to the deadweightloss of taxation.