Policy debates are fair game - dishonest forecasts are not

Posted on: December 16, 2020 at 12:09:53 CT

Tax cuts aimed at the wealthy are typically accompanied by unrealistic forecasts of the economic growth they will produce.

Those forecasts lack validity.

If someone wants to make the political argument that
billionaires are over taxed as a matter of fairness. Fine just do it honestly. Also, when making that argument, be honest about the actual tax rates paid by billionaires after all the preferential rates they get and the massive tax deferrals of economic income (i.e. capital gains not taxed until realized via a transaction) and outright cons (accounting shifts of income to low tax jurisdictions via transfer pricing between affiliates).

Also, be honest about the way billionaires benefit from government via social stability, enforcement of monopolies via patents, military protection of overseas operations, ultra low interest rates in recent years driven by federal reserve actions, enforcement of property rights in general via courts. etc etc.

But yeah, make the fairness argument if you want to. Just do it honestly.

Edited by Knucklehead at 12:14:10 on 12/16/20