Attention Economy


Wednesday, December 20, 2017

Tax Cuts and Fiscal Policy

The Economist on the GOP Tax Bill:

Greg Ip of WSJ - GOP Tax Bill Fixes Some Problems, But Exacerbates Others

Robert Samuelson on the projected US budget deficits:
“To be fair, Republicans argue that their tax cuts will pay for themselves by speeding up the economy and generating a gusher of new tax revenue — a claim doubted by many economists. If Republicans had the courage of their convictions, they would have advanced a stand-alone corporate tax reduction (touted as the biggest contributor to growth) financed entirely by ending other tax breaks.
As it is, the Republicans send exactly the wrong message. We need more taxes, not fewer. Even with the economy near “full employment,” annual budget deficits total hundreds of billions of dollars, and under present policies, they will expand as more Americans retire and health-care costs grow. Although we can’t know the full consequences, they could be serious.”

Related:
Robert Samuelson on the ‘Captured Economy’
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/our-economic-cannibalism/2017/10/08/9a7de5a4-aab0-11e7-850e-2bdd1236be5d_story.html