The secret of the laffer curve is no one knows where the maximum point is but everyone likes to pretend they do.
You can extrapolate this to apply to all of economics.
>>>The secret of the laffer curve is no one knows where the maximum point is but everyone likes to pretend they do.
Yes, determining what is the optimal rate, especially when you have a progressive tax system, isn;t obvious. Clinton passed the largest tax increase in US history and revenues went up. Bush passed his tax cuts and revenues went up.
EXACTLY...
And this is why Republicans who have basically leaned on the “tax cuts increase government revenue” argument are either mental, or lazy.
At the point we are at, I think we have to at least assume that we are on the left side of the curve. Hell, maybe we’re still on the right side of it, but don’t you think we should go about our budget preparation as though we were on the left of it?
Cutting taxes is not, and can not be, the end all be all of the Republican economic agenda, because the logic we use to justify them in a world of deficits is simply not enough - its only half the solution.
We have to get serious about spending cuts, entitlement reform and all the other things that will decrease the amount of spending at the federal level.
If we aren’t prepared to do that, then we can’t cut taxes. If we do and don’t balance the budget by cutting spending, then we are only passing along a defacto tax increase on our kids to pay for the insane debt we are incurring. Either way, we’re screwing ourselves with taxes, or screwing our kids with them.
Cutting taxes without cutting taxes is the cowards way out.
Exactly.
We each have our own “Atlas Shrugged Point” on the Laffer Curve.