All governments require revenue for public purposes.
"As the general manager of the network, I would love to go commercial-free," Ms. Dubuc said, but "programming needs" require revenue from advertising as well as affiliates.
At a forum at the "21" Club, Mr. Rubin, a former Treasury secretary, said that fixing the deficit would require "revenue increases, improved savings, improved productivity, stronger growth abroad" and "perhaps a currency adjustment".
Ms. Colvin's concern about her newspaper's pay wall while reporting in a besieged Syrian city illustrates what may be a central paradox of the digital media age — news organizations require revenue to employ foreign journalists and ensure that important information reaches the public, but to raise that revenue they opt to restrict access to that information to paying subscribers.
Traditionally, governments have reformed their administrative operations in response to evident failures (e.g., the inability to deal with crises or to function effectively in warfare) and the need to create universal systems of benefits (e.g., pensions, health care, and education), both of which require revenue extraction by an efficient institution.
For starters, we require revenue of at least $1 billion.
Subscription businesses that require revenue shares to both content owners and payment platforms, like the App Store, means there are often thinner margins than the normal challenging margins these business face.
Facebook requires revenues, and it requires an eventual demonstration of ongoing profits to keep investors happy.
Originally, taxes of this type were imposed to serve a double purpose since, a century and a half ago, the national government required revenues in order to pay its bills.
