Tag: gdp
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Cutting Taxes Creates Growth: Yeah, Right
Cactus at Angry Bear does yeoman’s work yet again to drive a spike into the heart of voodoo/trickle-down/supply-side Reaganomic ideology, demonstrating what economists have known for decades: Keynes was right. Over the short term–one to three years–raising taxes hurts economic growth. Deficit spending (read: low taxes and high spending) promotes economic growth over the short…
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The Massive Missing Link in GDP: Home-Work
I’ve spilled a lot of electronic ink over the last few years arguing about what causes GDP growth (especially in developed countries like the U.S.), tacitly accepting that GDP per capita was a reasonably good proxy for prosperity and well-being. And it is–reasonably. It has the advantage of being widely and fairly consistently measured throughout…
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Europe vs. U.S.: Family Time Versus Four-by-Fours and Two-by-Fours
Finally! Someone has come back at me (well he didn’t know he was talking to me) with the key, perhaps-trumping argument on my Europe vs. US longatribes. I gave this argument away in a previous post, hoping someone would pick it up, but have yet to hear it well enunciated elsewhere. Summary of my arguments:…
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Reagan, Bush, and McCain: Selling America First
This 2003 article by Warren Buffet–explaining in his usual pithy manner how we’re frittering away our future well-being by borrowing abroad and selling off our assets–got me looking once again at our country’s long-term financial position in the world. And once again, I came across one of those profound inflection points at–you guessed it–1980. The…
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Pro-Growth Republicans? Get Real
Republicans like to claim that they’re the party of growth and prosperity. Even though all the facts say otherwise. I’ve pointed out repeatedly that when you compare a lot of developed countries over decades, you see that lower taxes and smaller government don’t result in faster growth. Tax cuts are an effective vote-buying political pander…
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US Corporate Taxes: How Do They Compare?
Paul Krugman points us to a CBO comparative study (PDF) of corporate taxes in developed countries. Short story: ours are pretty much in the same ballpark as other prosperous countries, by various measures. Ours tend to incentivize investments funded by debt, as opposed to equity. Nothing to see here, folks. Move along. One table I…
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Government: BAD? — Part 3: Taxes and GDP Growth
Do higher taxes result in slower growth? That’s the basic assertion made by tax-cut advocates. If we lower taxes, we’ll grow faster and all boats–rich and poor–will rise. It’s a great idea. Too bad it’s not true. Few will disagree that in the short term (generally), tax increases impede growth. But over the long term…