Where Are the Jobs from the Bush Tax Cuts?
Where Are the Jobs from the Bush Tax Cuts?
Where Are the Jobs from the Bush Tax Cuts?
Conflicts in Congress over how to reduce the debt has Democrats like Al Franken asking, “Where are the jobs from the Bush tax cuts?” Mercatus Center economist, Matthew Mitchell, says that’s a very good question.
“In just about every aspect other than taxes, economic policy in the 2000s moved in an anti-market direction.” Mitchell points to “Monetary policy, regulatory policy, trade policy, increased reliance on stimulus efforts, and large increases in spending that attended two wars.”
Mitchell cites the chain-linked Economic Freedom of the World report that shows the precipitous drop in American economic freedom after 2000.
“We didn’t have a tax cut,” Mitchell argues. “By this I mean that a tax cut without a spending cut is not a tax cut; it is a tax deferral. Deficit-financed taxes will fail to spur growth. This is because deficits lower the nation’s capital stock, which over the medium-to-long-run also harms economic growth.”
“The fact that the Bush years were not massive growth years actually bolsters the case for spending and tax cuts.”
Read Mitchell's full blog post.
