Responding to Klein: Don’t Cross the Revenue Streams!
The Center on Budget Policy and Priorities has released a chart that is causing a stir among those who want to raise taxes on the top 2% (for a variety of reasons, to pay for an expanding list of programs). In fact, so many have seized on this chart that we have to take exception and respond. Read full post...
Volker Panel Offers Lots of Pages, but Nothing New
Amid no fan fare at all on Friday, the Administration released the report from its Economic Recovery Advisory Board, headed by former Fed Chairman Paul Volker, “The Report on Tax Reform Options: Simplification, Compliance, and Corporate Taxation”. The 126 page report is primarily comprised of a long list of suggestions to simplify the tax code or improve compliance, most of which we’ve seen before. In the end, the report offers little that is new. Read full post...
The U.S. v Germany: David Brooks Weighs In
Last week, we called attention to Germany’s incredible second quarter growth rate (9.1% on an annualized basis). It was an interesting data point in intense debate between the German and American political establishments about whether the right economic recipe (for today) was more borrowing to stimulate growth or less debt and more action to balance budgets. Today, David Brooks weighed in with some very interesting comments of his own. Read full post...
Friday GDP Arithmetic
We have new GDP numbers from the Department of Commerce's Bureau of Economic Analysis.
- U.S. real Gross Domestic Product grew at an annual 1.6% rate in the second quarter of this year.
- This is the second estimate for Q2 GDP. The first, released at the end of July, was +2.4%. This is therefore a downward revision, but we're still growing, albeit slowly.
- The economy is growing more slowly than it did in Q1, when it was growing at a 3.7% annual rate. Read full post...
New Housing Figures Look Dim
This week has seen dismal new housing numbers – an unwelcome sign to those hoping for glimmers of recovery for the housing market. The bad news began on Tuesday when existing home sales for June were released revealing a drop of 27%from the previous month’s total. Wednesday brought the new home sales numbers, which were down by 12% from last month. Read full post...
Responding to Podesta and Greenstein on the Looming Tax Increase
In today’s Financial Times, co-authors John Podesta and Robert Greenstein add their voices to those calling for higher marginal tax rates for the top two brackets. Unsurprisingly, Podesta and Greenstein claim that a tax increase on the wealthiest 2% won’t significantly slow economic growth and that the new tax revenue should be used for deficit reduction instead. Read full post...
Ben Schulman on the Magic of Failure
Richard Florida points us to a wonderful piece at Gapers Block that captures a lot of my own inchoate thoughts. Ben Schulman describes how Pittsburgh’s success reflects a legacy of failure: Read full post...
Jim Manzi on the Stimulus and Epistemic Humility
I take great pleasure in reading Jim Manzi engage with his critics. When you compare Jim’s writing to that of his interlocutors, you soon realize that he is taking part in a very different kind of intellectual exercise. My impression is that Jim is less interested in political combat than in getting the questions and, to the extent possible the answers, right. Read full post...
Not Out of The Woods Yet
Monday afternoon, Vice-President Joe Biden spoke in Toledo, Ohio at a Chrysler plant. The speech was designed to promote the successes of last year’s auto industry bailout, where $50 billion was given to GM and Chrysler to avoid the collapse of each firm. It also follows closely on the heels of President Obama’s own auto plant tour made earlier this month. Read full post...
Responding to Dr. Krugman's column on tax cuts for the rich
In his column yesterday, Dr. Paul Krugman argues for raising the top marginal income tax rates on January 1. His polemic is useful because it encapsulates most of the Left’s arguments. In this view of the world, revenues belong to the government and are allocated by policymakers as gifts to those who need or deserve them. When you hear that “we cannot afford to cut taxes” and “we should not give tax cuts to ______,” you are hearing this philosophy. Read full post...
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