Tag Archives: tax cut

Trump’s Tax Cut Will Worsen the Current Account Deficit

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January 19, 2018 —  President Trump and the Republicans succeeded last month in passing their big tax cut.  It may not have many of the desirable attributes of true tax reform (equity, efficiency, bi-partisanship, revenue-neutrality, or cyclical timing); but it is major legislation, as promised.  What about that other major Trump promise, to cut the US trade deficit?  The tax cut is virtually certain to raise the budget deficit and in turn to raise – not lower – the current account deficit.  Call it the Return of the Infamous Twin Deficits.  As when Ronald Reagan cut taxes in 1981-83 or when George W. Bush cut taxes in 2001 and 2003. read more

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Which Reagan Tax Reform is This One Like?

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Nov. 27, 2017 — The Republicans, it is said, absolutely must pass a massive tax bill by Christmas, in order to have some major accomplishment to show for 2017, the first year in which they control all branches of government.  Having apparently failed in their seven-year campaign to deprive some 20 million Americans of health insurance, they dare not fail in their Scrooge-like campaign to transfer billions of dollars to the ultra-rich.

To try to sell this turkey of a tax bill, Donald Trump recently sought to invoke the memory of Ronald Reagan and his tax reforms. read more

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The Fiscal Stimulus & Market Turnaround: 5-Year Anniversary

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Commentators are taking note of the five-year anniversary of the fiscal stimulus that President Obama enacted during his first month in office.   Those who don’t like Obama are still asking “if the  fiscal stimulus was so great, why didn’t it work?”    What is the appropriate response? read more

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