Division of Labour‘s Frank Stephenson’s letter in today’s Wall Street Journal is priceless:
I was surprised to read that “White House economists believe that taxes have little effect on growth.” Just a few days ago I received the June 2010 issue of the American Economic Review, the flagship journal of academic economics. The current issue contains an article by CEA Chair Christina Romer and her husband David Romer on the macroeconomic effects of tax changes. Their paper examines “all major postwar tax policy actions” and concludes that “tax increases are highly contractionary.” For emphasis, the authors add that this finding is both “strongly significant” and “highly robust.”
Could it be that the White House economic team is suffering a bit of cognitive dissonance?
E. Frank Stephenson
Chair
Department of Economics
Berry College
Rome, Ga.
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It is pointless exercise. In five years, muirdouche has nothing constructive to add to this blog. Debating a close minded liar is pointless.
“Seriously… just look at the high marginal rates from 1944 to 1970… was that a contractionary period?”
Great post… We all know the world we lived through between 1944 to 1970 is the same world we live in now. <sarcasm mode off>
High taxes do not stimulate the economy; high taxation leads to higher spending which leads to less money in the hands of the private sector. Less money in the hands of the private sector means less jobs, less innovation, lower productivity & less advancement.
President Obama, like President Bush before him, has raised government spending and therefore has raised your taxes. Once the money is spent, the bill must eventually come due. The truth is that it's the taxpayer that foots that bill.
I have seen her personally say the most absurd statements regarding economics. She has done so on national television. She is clueless. She should find another profession. Nothing she says regarding economics has any value.
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