It doesn’t take an economist to recognize the shortcomings of immature, unprincipled, hedonistic economic policy.
Let’s give big tax cuts without cutting spending
Let’s rack up the national debt
Let’s engage in wars of choice with oil-rich countries
Let’s refrain from building oil-processing infrastructure
Let’s watch inflation increase, the value of the dollar decrease, and let’s watch US Companies beg foreign investors for cash to stave off bankruptcy…
And when it all catches up to us, when recession starts to kick in, let’s respond with a $150 billion one-time tax rebate in order to stimulate the economy in the short-term, without paying for it, and further perpetuate the systemic problems that will eventually catch up to us (the recent Bush “stimulus” plan).
My non-expert opinion: Let’s take our lumps now. If we’re headed for recession - let’s do it, and let’s cycle out of it, and let’s not put it off only to find ourselves in a much greater problem down the road. LET THE FREE MARKET DO ITS THING!!!!
2 Comments
While I agree with almost all your bullet points, I just wish to note that the Laffer curve does in fact show the possibility that tax cuts can bring in more government revenue (without explicitly saying what that point may be). I also understand its practically impossible to isolate the optimal tax rate point as per the Laffer curve, but that also works both ways…one cant say tax cuts will “or wont” bring in more funds unless working from extreme ends of the spectrum (and even then its probablistic, not deterministic).
So you are saying that tax-rebates and cuts might work to stimulate the economy and to increase government revenue, but that even if we accepted as a fact that they would, we don’t know what the optimal point would be?
Well… duh.
Are we to bet our short-term livelihoods on this when more reasonable courses of action exist?
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