Individual income tax revenues did drop sharply from 1982 to 1984 so they did not appear to increase in the short-term.Really? You have the actual revenue numbers for this period?
Given the limitations of the Laffer curve that I listed in the previous message, I don't think there is enough historical data to answer those questions.
You're kidding about this part, right? Did that reduction in taxes help the economy to grow faster and did it result in higher after tax income for America's citizens?
You want to try again? I don't think you even need to know what the Laffer Curve is to admit that lower tax rates would increase after tax income.
RECEIPTS BY SOURCE AND SELECTED TAX RATES: 1940-2011
(in billions of dollars)
Estate Customs Top
Individ Corporate Social and Duties Misc Total Marginal FICA
Year Income Income Insurance Excise Gift & Fees Receipts Receipts Rate Rate
----- --------- --------- --------- -------- -------- -------- --------- --------- --------- --------
1979 217.841 65.677 138.939 18.745 5.411 7.439 9.252 463.302 6.13
1980 244.069 64.600 157.803 24.329 6.389 7.174 12.748 517.112 6.13
1981 285.917 61.137 182.720 40.839 6.787 8.083 13.790 599.272 70 6.65
1982 297.744 49.207 201.498 36.311 7.991 8.854 16.161 617.766 50 6.7
1983 288.938 37.022 208.994 35.300 6.053 8.655 15.600 600.562 50 6.7
1984 298.415 56.893 239.376 37.361 6.010 11.370 17.060 666.486 50 6.7
1985 334.531 61.331 265.163 35.992 6.422 12.079 18.571 734.088 48 7.05
1986 348.959 63.143 283.901 32.919 6.958 13.327 20.008 769.215 7.15
1987 392.557 83.926 303.318 32.457 7.493 15.085 19.518 854.353 7.15
1988 401.181 94.508 334.335 35.227 7.594 16.198 20.259 909.303 33 7.51
1989 445.690 103.291 359.416 34.386 8.745 16.334 23.328 991.190 7.51
1990 466.884 93.507 380.047 35.345 11.500 16.707 27.978 1031.969 33 7.65
1991 467.827 98.086 396.016 42.402 11.138 15.949 23.623 1055.041 31 7.65
1992 475.964 100.270 413.689 45.569 11.143 17.359 27.284 1091.279 31 7.65
1993 509.680 117.520 428.300 48.057 12.577 18.802 19.465 1154.401 31 7.65
1994 543.055 140.385 461.475 55.225 15.225 20.099 23.164 1258.627 31 7.65
1995 590.244 157.004 484.473 57.484 14.763 19.301 28.561 1351.830 39.6 7.65
1996 656.417 171.824 509.414 54.014 17.189 18.670 25.534 1453.062 39.6 7.65
1997 737.466 182.293 539.371 56.924 19.845 17.928 25.465 1579.292 39.6 7.65
1998 828.586 188.677 571.831 57.673 24.076 18.297 32.658 1721.798 39.6 7.65
1999 879.480 184.680 611.833 70.414 27.782 18.336 34.929 1827.454 39.6 7.65
2000 1004.462 207.289 652.852 68.865 29.010 19.914 42.826 2025.218 39.6 7.65
2001* 1072.927 213.069 689.656 71.148 31.072 21.442 37.632 2136.946
2002* 1078.789 218.786 725.798 74.020 28.699 22.537 43.105 2191.734
2003* 1092.290 227.293 766.045 76.254 26.639 24.281 45.438 2258.240
2004* 1117.881 235.497 806.049 78.300 28.297 24.961 47.831 2338.816
2005* 1157.044 244.152 855.842 80.543 24.897 25.989 49.316 2437.783
2006* 1196.607 252.159 896.367 82.346 22.498 27.724 51.010 2528.711
2007* 1255.200 259.900 942.000 84.800 20.400 29.300 51.600 2643.300
2008* 1330.400 268.100 984.400 87.300 15.700 30.700 54.100 2770.600
2009* 1410.200 275.800 1030.800 90.000 13.400 33.000 56.800 2909.900
2010* 1499.600 283.500 1087.900 92.800 0.700 34.500 59.500 3058.400
2011* 1598.200 294.300 1145.100 95.700 0.700 36.200 62.400 3232.600
Individual income tax revenues did drop sharply from 1982 to 1984 so they did not appear to increase in the short-term.
You do have the actual revenue numbers for this period. You want to revise this answer? Or do you believe that going from $297.744 billion to $298.415 billion is a sharp drop?
Individual income tax revenues did drop sharply from 1982 to 1984 so they did not appear to increase in the short-term. Really? You have the actual revenue numbers for this period?
I see that you posted those numbers from a table that I posted at http://home.att.net/~rdavis2/recsrc02.html. No fair using my own numbers against me! The fact is, in trying to answer all the questions from you, expat, and ChessExpert, I got a little sloppy in my answer to you. I looked quickly at the following graph and saw that individual income tax revenues did drop sharply from 1982 to 1984 as a percentage of GDP:
The actual numbers and sources are at http://home.att.net/~rdavis2/recsrc.html. I also glanced at the second graph at that URL and noted that, corrected for inflation, total revenues dropped for two years (though I see now that it was from 1981 to 1983). In any case, I didn't qualify my statement as a percentage of GDP or corrected for inflation. So you're correct that, in current dollars, individual income tax revenues only dropped from 1982 to 1983, not 1982 to 1984. Still, the graphs and numbers do not suggest to me that Reagan's first tax cut "paid for itself" in the sense of tax revenues being higher than they would have been otherwise.
Given the limitations of the Laffer curve that I listed in the previous message, I don't think there is enough historical data to answer those questions.
You're kidding about this part, right? Did that reduction in taxes help the economy to grow faster and did it result in higher after tax income for America's citizens?
You want to try again? I don't think you even need to know what the Laffer Curve is to admit that lower tax rates would increase after tax income.
Once again, in answering your message too quickly, I misread your question about "did it result in higher after tax income for America's citizens" as "did it result in higher tax revenues". Of course, a tax cut will result in higher after tax income. That's its chief goal. It's not a free lunch but it is a lunch, so to speak.
Anyhow, I cannot keep up with all of the questions from you, expat, and ChessExpert. If you have any questions you really want answered, perhaps the three of you can confer and put one or two questions or points into a common posting. Otherwise, I'll just have to pick and choose among your questions and answer a few of them as I have time.