The Progressive Case for Abolishing the Corporate Income Tax
Reform of the corporate income tax is shaping up to be one of the big issues facing Congress in 2017. Republicans are pushing for big cuts in the corporate tax rate. Most observers seem to assume that conservatives and progressives will be at swords points over those cuts, but they should not be. There is ... Read more
Everything That’s Wrong with the US Tax System in One Chart
Last week the Tax Foundation released its annual International Tax Competitiveness Index for 2014. The United States ranked 32 out of 34 OECD countries surveyed. Only Portugal and France got lower competitiveness scores, and not by much. As if that were not bad enough, the competitiveness score is only half the story. When you put ... Read more
A Universal Basic Income and Work Incentives. Part 2: Evidence
In Part 1 of this series, I outlined some basic economic theory regarding a universal basic income (UBI) and work incentives. By a UBI, I mean an income support policy that provides a set monthly benefit to every citizen. A UBI, as I define it, would to everyone, regardless of income, wealth, or employment status. ... Read more
Does Inherited Wealth Really Help the Economy? A Reply to Greg Mankiw
Writing for the Upshot section of the New York Times, Harvard economist Greg Mankiw has weighed in on the Pikkety debate. He accepts Pikkety’s scenario of ever increasing inequality as at least a “provocative speculation,” if not established fact, but then asks, So what? What is wrong with inequality and inherited wealth? Nothing, says Mankiw. ... Read more
Could We Afford a Universal Basic Income? (Part 2 of a Series)
This version, revised June 25, 2014, corrects errors in calculating the value of the personal exemption and the size of the Social Security population that were present in the January original. The first post in this series looked at the economic case for a universal basic income (UBI), by which I mean an unconditional grant, ... Read more
The Economic Case for a Universal Basic Income (Part 1 of a series)
The news that Switzerland will hold a referendum on a proposal to provide every citizen with an unconditional grant of 2,500 Swiss francs a month (about $2,800) has sparked renewed interest in the old idea of a universal basic income (UBI). Under such a program, the government would not just top up the incomes of ... Read more
Why Libertarians Should Support a Carbon Tax—Even if They Can’t Love It
In the first two parts of this series, I discussed the reasons why both conservatives and progressives should love a carbon tax, and why many of each political persuasion do. In this third installment, I take up the more difficult case of libertarians. There is no way that a good libertarian could love a carbon ... Read more
Why Progressives Should Love a Carbon Tax—Although Not All of Them Do
Progressives should love a carbon tax. Most progressives love the environment and believe that carbon emissions cause environmental harm. Unlike conservatives, whose attitudes toward carbon taxes were the subject of my last post, progressives have no generalized aversion to taxes. Carbon taxes should be a natural for progressives, then, if they can accept the power ... Read more
Why Conservatives Should Love a Carbon Tax—and Why Some of Them Do
Last Week the White House released a long-anticipated Climate Action Plan. Conservatives have been swift to attack it as a “backdoor energy tax.” The critics could not be more wrong. A carbon tax, or energy tax of any kind, is the one big piece that is missing from the President’s plan. Despite the criticism, though, ... Read more
Corporate Profits Soar as Proprietors’ Income Stagnates: The Decline of Small Business and what to do about it.
Americans have long seen small businesses as the heart and soul of their economy, but small firms have not fared well in recent years. Corporations, in contrast, seem to be on a roll, with profits and stock prices soaring to record highs. Is small business really in decline, and if so, what should we do ... Read more