April 23, 2026 3:20PM 

# Tax Burdens and the French Revolution 

By [Jeffrey Miron](https://www.cato.org/people/jeffrey-miron) 

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[New research](https://www.cato.org/research-briefs-economic-policy/extractive-taxation-french-revolution) uses regional per capita tax burdens in 1780s France to examine the relationship between tax burdens and rioting. It finds that

> bailliages (administrative districts) with heavier tax burdens experienced significantly more riots between 1750 and 1789.

This association

> stemmed primarily from taxes on goods rather than on income or profits.… Taxation created the structural foundations for unrest, while material hardship and ideological forces catalyzed long-standing grievances about fiscal inequality into open revolt.

Also,

> legislators from high-tax constituencies were more likely to demand institutional change, call for the abolition of feudal privileges, … support abolishing the monarchy\[,\] and … vote for the king’s execution during the National Convention in January 1793.

Oppressive taxation is unpopular, and it can harm the rule of law.

*Cross-posted from* [*Substack*](https://jeffreymiron.substack.com/p/immigration-restrictions-cause-enforcement)*.*

##### Related Tags 

[Tax and Budget Policy](https://www.cato.org/tax-budget-policy) 

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