We first consider a tax levied on buyers of a good. Suppose for instance that our local government passes a law requiring buyers of ice-cream cones to send 0.50 to the government for each ice-cream cone they buy. How does this law affect the buyers and sellers of ice cream? To answer this question we can follow the for analyzing supply and demand. We decide whether the law affects the supply curve or demand curve. We decide which way the curve shifts. We examine how the shift affects the equilibrium. The initial impact of the tax is on the demand for ice cream. The supply curve is not affected because for any given price of ice cream sellers have the have the same incentive to provide ice cream to the market. By contrast buyers now have to pay a tax to the government ( as well as the price to the sellers) whenever they buy ice cream. Thus the tax shifts the demand curve for ice cream. We next determine the direction of the shift. Because the tax on buyers make...