To a supply-sider, there is no worse tax than the capital gains tax. One big problem is that budgeteers surely would crunch the numbers and claim the plan would result in $2 trillion to $3 trillion in lost government revenue. Such "static scoring" that does not take into account the economic growth impact of lower taxes may well be bunk.
Ahem! The Reagan and Bush43 versions of “giving people their money back so they can consume” more sine any spending cuts lowers national savings. Abstracting from any Keynesian or short-term stimulus effect (after all, the supply-side school wants us to believe they are interested in long-term growth), lower savings translates into less investment and less long-term growth. But James Pethokoukis does not seem capable of writing something this basic and simple even if it is a key element of the debate. I have to wonder why U.S. News allows him to publish anything on economics at all.
I think they would argue that your savings number is only people who take the money and put it in a "savings account".
ReplyDeleteDon't get me wrong, it's a dumb article, and Rudy probably meant to provoke McCain into being his "budget balancer" position. The budget balancer usually loses.