Free Republic

Even small dis-incentives can drive economic activity to die off or move.While discussing the near inevitability of a tax on buying or selling shares in a company (separate for already existing taxes for gains from those transaction) the German newspaper Der Speigel cites the British experiment with exactly this sort of tax:  To see why, one must look no further than the meager successes of the British stock exchange tax, which only applies to share transactions, which constitute a tiny portion of all financial transactions. Since the introduction of the "Stamp Duty Reserve Tax" of 0.5 percent on the sale...

"I went to a Goldwater organizing session in 1964. I met with Ronald Reagan for the first time in 1974. I worked with Jack Kemp, and Art Laffer and others to develop supply side economics in the late '70s. I helped Governor Reagan become President Reagan. I helped pass the Reagan economic program and worked with the National Security Council on issues including the collapse of the Soviet Empire," Newt Gingrich said at tonight's debate.

Dyersville, IA - Renowned economist, father of The Laffer Curve and supply-side economics, and architect of the Ronald Reagan economic plan, Arthur Laffer, announced his endorsement Tuesday of Newt Gingrich for President of the United States. "Newt has the best plan for jobs and economic growth of any candidate in the field," said Laffer. "Like Ronald Reagan's tax cuts and pro-growth policies, Newt's low individual and corporate tax rates, deregulation and strong dollar monetary policies will create a boom of new investment and economic growth leading to the creation of tens of millions of new jobs over the next decade....

Arthur Laffer, the architect of Ronald Reagan’s economic plan, announced today that he is endorsing Newt Gingrich for president. "Newt has the best plan for jobs and economic growth of any candidate in the field,” said Laffer, the renowned economist who is the father of The Laffer Curve and supply-side economics. “Like Ronald Reagan’s tax cuts and pro-growth policies, Newt’s low individual and corporate tax rates, deregulation. and strong dollar monetary policies will create a boom of new investment and economic growth leading to the creation of tens of millions of new jobs over the next decade,” Laffer declared. “Plus,...

Newt Gingrich Endorsed by Architect of Reagan Economic Plan, Economist Arthur Laffer Dyersville, IA – Renowned economist, father of The Laffer Curve and supply-side economics, and architect of the Ronald Reagan economic plan, Arthur Laffer, announced his endorsement today of Newt Gingrich for President of the United States. “Newt has the best plan for jobs and economic growth of any candidate in the field,” said Laffer. “Like Ronald Reagan’s tax cuts and pro-growth policies, Newt’s low individual and corporate tax rates, deregulation and strong dollar monetary policies will create a boom of new investment and economic growth leading to the...

Full Text of Article (less graphics) follows: Laffer Shoots Down Critics on Cain 999 for WSJ In an Opinion piece for the Wall Street Journal, Supply Side economist and Reagan advisor, Art Laffer, looks at the number and concludes it is real stimulus for the American economy. Cain's plan will bring in the same revenue as the current tax code on a "static basis." This means that given no assumptions for extra "dynamic" growth, the 999 Plan will meet revenue needs. But, Laffer strongly believes that the Cain Plan will bring in more due to the intrinsic economic positives of...

It used to be that the sole purpose of the tax code was to raise the necessary funds to run government. But in today's world the tax mandate has many more facets. These include income redistribution, encouraging favored industries, and discouraging unfavorable behavior. To make matters worse there are millions and millions of taxpayers who are highly motivated to reduce their tax liabilities. And, as those taxpayers finagle and connive to find ways around the tax code, government responds by propagating new rules, new interpretations of the code, and new taxes in a never-ending chase. In the process, we create...

Economist Stephen Moore, one of the architects of presidential contender Herman Cain’s 9-9-9 tax plan, said Cain needs to rework a critical component of the plan. Cain’s plan would replace the current tax structure with a 9 percent corporate tax rate, a 9 percent personal income tax rate and a 9 percent federal sales tax. But speaking on Larry Kudlow’s radio show on Saturday, Moore said the sales tax should be replaced with a 9 percent payroll tax. “I’ve come to the conclusion that the American people and the voters do not want a national sales tax,” he said. “[Cain’s]...

Herman Cain’s catchy 9-9-9 tax overhaul system is gathering major supporters as the former pizza magnate consolidates his position at the top of the Republican field in the race for the White House. House budget committee chairman Rep. Paul Ryan and Ronald Reagan’s economic guru Art Laffer both expressed their support for the plan which would replace the current tax code. The anti-tax Club for Growth also came out in favor of Cain’s plan which would cut income and corporate taxes to 9 percent and institute a new national sales tax at the same level. Payroll, capital gains and estate...

Although he does not claim to have invented the Laffer curve concept (Laffer, 2004), it was popularized with policy-makers following an afternoon meeting with Nixon/Ford Administration officials Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld in 1974 in which he reportedly sketched the curve on a napkin to illustrate his argument. The term "Laffer curve" was coined by Jude Wanniski, who was also present. The basic concept was not new; Laffer himself says he learned it from Ibn Khaldun and John Maynard Keynes.Wikijunk “This may be unpleasant to some of you: We have benefited more from free trade than anybody else. Outsourcing is...

Reagan Economist Breaks Down Cain's 999 Plan (Art Laffer)

Art Laffer, a former member of Reagan’s Economic Policy Advisory Board and the man who created the Laffer Curve, has now come out and endorsed Herman Cain’s 999 plan, saying that it will undoubtedly be a huge boon to economic growth. This is very good news for Herman Cain: HUMAN EVENTS – Famed supply-side economist Art Laffer​ told HUMAN EVENTS that Cain’s “9-9-9″ plan was a pro-growth plan that would create the proper conditions for America’s economy to grow and thrive again. “Herman Cain’s 9-9-9 plan would be a vast improvement over the current tax system and a boon to...

As businessman Herman Cain surges atop state and national polls and becomes a top-tier presidential contender, his signature "9-9-9" plan, which calls for a nine percent tax on income, a nine percent national sales tax, and a nine percent corporate income tax, has come under scrutiny from the right and the left. Famed supply-side economist Art Laffer told HUMAN EVENTS that Cain's "9-9-9" plan was a pro-growth plan that would create the proper conditions for America's economy to grow and thrive again. "Herman Cain’s 9-9-9 plan would be a vast improvement over the current tax system and a boon to...

The majority of economists surveyed by the National Association for Business Economics believe that the federal deficit should be reduced only or primarily through spending cuts. The survey out Monday found that 56 percent of the NABE members surveyed felt that way, while 37 percent said they favor equal parts spending cuts and tax increases. The remaining 7 percent believe it should be done only or mostly through tax increases. As for how to reduce the deficit, nearly 40 percent said the best way would be to contain Medicare and Medicaid costs. Nearly a quarter recommended overhauling the tax system...

The only way President Barack Obama can solve the nation’s economic woes is to adopt “common-sense” Reaganomics, the policy’s architect Arthur Laffer claims in an exclusive Newsmax.TV interview. Laffer said the White House called him in the spring and asked him to speak to Obama’s former Council of Economic Advisors’ chairman Austen Goolsbee – and he had told him exactly the same thing. “Reaganomics would fix any economy that’s in the doldrums,” Laffer said. “It’s not a magic sauce, it’s common sense. “You’ve got to get rid of all federal taxes in the extreme and replace them with a low-rate...

So Obama demands that we must progressively "Tax the Rich" as a price for raising the debt limit. OK. Let's do that. Any civilian government employee making over $150,000.00 per year gets a 15% tax increase until the deficit is zero'ed. Any civilian making over $100,000.00 per year gets a 10% tax increase. Any civilian making over $75,000.00 per year gets a 5% tax increase. So how much would this raise? Does it really matter, Obama (and Hillary) have already said in 2008 that the fact that raising capital gains tax rates doesn't increase revenue "doesn't matter, it is a...

In a study published last week by the Laffer Center, my colleagues Wayne Winegarden, John Childs and I estimate that these costs alone are a staggering $431 billion annually. This is a cost markup of 30 cents on every dollar paid in taxes. And this is not even a complete accounting of the costs of tax complexity.

"It is a paradoxical truth that tax rates are too high and tax revenues are too low and the soundest way to raise the revenues in the long run is to cut the rates now ... Cutting taxes now is not to incur a budget deficit, but to achieve the more prosperous, expanding economy which can bring a budget surplus." – John F. Kennedy, Nov. 20, 1962, president's news conference -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Lower rates of taxation will stimulate economic activity and so raise the levels of personal and corporate income as to yield within a few years an increased – not...

Tax reduction thus sets off a process that can bring gains for everyone, gains won by marshalling resources that would otherwise stand idle—workers without jobs and farm and factory capacity without markets. Yet many taxpayers seemed prepared to deny the nation the fruits of tax reduction because they question the financial soundness of reducing taxes when the federal budget is already in deficit. Let me make clear why, in today's economy, fiscal prudence and responsibility call for tax reduction even if it temporarily enlarged the federal deficit—why reducing taxes is the best way open to us to increase revenues. —President...

Certain ideas get so firmly fixed in some folks' brains that no amount of evidence can dislodge them. Such ideas become articles of faith. And one article of faith that is particularly deeply stuck in the minds of "the faithful" is that Reaganomics doesn't work. The big idea behind Reaganomics is that cutting tax rates boosts the economy, which results in more tax revenue. The history of the last three decades bears this out. The faithful have tried to disprove Reaganomics by contending that the 1993 tax rate hike is what gave us the good economy and the balanced budgets...