Monday, September 14, 2015

Two for growth

I saw two very nice, short views on growth: John Taylor Can We Restart This Recovery All Over Again? and Andy Atkeson, Lee Ohanian, and William E. Simon, Jr., 4% Economic Growth? Yes, We Can Achieve That.

John gets the art prize


Andy, Lee and William get the boil-it-down-to-basics prose prize
 Safety-net policies should not discourage work through high implicit tax rates resulting from means-tested programs. Regulatory policies should not erect barriers to competition and raise costs. Education policies should expand competition and reward the most successful teachers. Immigration policies should expand the number of skilled workers and immigrant entrepreneurs. And tax policies should simplify the tax code, reduce business and personal marginal income tax rates and broaden the tax base.
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4 comments:

  1. Tom BrownSeptember 14, 2015 at 4:37 PM

    "Safety-net policies should ... Immigration policies should expand the number of skilled workers and immigrant entrepreneurs. And tax policies should ...."

    Nice list, but the nativist party appears to only really care about one of those things, and they are vehemently of the opposite opinion. They also seem to pride themselves in not needing any evidence to know they are correct. Time for a 3rd party?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Benjamin ColeSeptember 15, 2015 at 2:16 AM

    And the $1 trillion a year federal malinvestment in "national security"?

    Eliminating the USDA would be another positive.

    And the SSDI and VA "disability" programs have run wild.

    I think we can get to 4% real growth...some sacred cows would have to be gored....

    Another fun one: it was only in 1926 that the Supreme Court upheld local goverment property zoning. Perhaps it's time to undo that!

    Condo towers in the land of single-family detached...retailing too! Push-cart vending would fight inflation, boost entrepreneurship.

    Remember: we are against the regulations we are against and for the regulations we are for. And that goes for a wasteful federal spending too!

    ReplyDelete
  3. AbsalonSeptember 15, 2015 at 12:33 PM

    "Safety-net policies should not discourage work through high implicit tax rates"

    I propose as a unifying principle that the effective implicit tax rate in means tested programs for every individual be capped at the top marginal tax rate on earned income.

    ReplyDelete
  4. FRestlySeptember 15, 2015 at 11:11 PM

    John,

    "And tax policies should simplify the tax code, reduce business and personal marginal income tax rates and broaden the tax base."

    Tax policies should reduce the federal debt...end of story.

    ReplyDelete

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