News
Investors | ObamaCare A Big Hurdle To Bipartisan Tax Reform
Everywhere you turn in Washington these days, there's talk of reforming the nation's Byzantine tax code. Earlier this year, President Obama called on Congress "to reform our individual tax code so that it is fair and simple."
NY Times | Tax Burdens Tilt Coastal, and System’s Fairness Is Debated
THE wealthy have been the subject of much discussion lately, from the protesters on Wall Street to lawmakers in Washington.
WSJ | Deficit Deal Might Delay Tax Overhaul
A top House Republican raised the possibility Sunday of pushing a tax-overhaul effort to next year, as part of a broader deficit-reduction effort that is closing in on a deadline just days away.
NY Times | Deficit Panel Seeks to Defer Details on Raising Taxes
With a little over a week left to reach a deal, members of the Congressional deficit reduction panel are looking for an escape hatch that would let them strike an accord on revenue levels but delay until next year tough decisions about exactly how to raise taxes.
Econ Comments
Cato Institute | Better Education Through Lower Taxes
Coloradans have said no to higher education taxes, voting down Proposition 103 by a two-to-one margin. There was good reason for that decision. Total per-pupil spending in Colorado has more than doubled since 1970, even after accounting for inflation. The same is true at the national level.
WSJ | About That 'Christmas Tree Tax'
The real story is a case of business and government collusion.
American Action Forum | Interest Expenses and Tax Reform
The goal of any fundamental corporate tax reform should be to improve the attractiveness of the United States as a location for investments in human, technological, and physical capital (i.e. “competitiveness”) and eliminate to the extent practical economic distortions introduced by the tax code.
WSJ | The Folly of the Flat Tax
Eliminating the biggest deductions and exclusions is extremely unlikely, and flatter rates alone won't make the tax system any simpler. It would, however, make it far less progressive.
Blogs
AEI: The American | 90 percent or bust? Why the United States can’t go back to 1950s tax rates
Indeed, from 1950 to 1963, the top marginal rate was either 91 percent or 92 percent and average annual GDP growth was a peppy 3.67 percent. But there are a few problems with this story: