Monday, July 07, 2008

Return of the Supply Siders

James Pethokoukis puts McCain in the Supply Side camp. And rightfully so, I think.
Bottom line: The only way this all makes sense is if McCain believes his tax cuts will supercharge the economy in true supply-side fashion, that growth from the tax cuts will more than make up for the loss in revenue from lower rates. If so, this represents a change in philosophy. In the past, Team McCain has not claimed such powerful economic effects from his tax cuts.
Does this really work? Personally, I think too much emphasis is put on lowering taxes and not enough is aimed at lowering spending. I agree that tax competition is important for growth. But I am not sure that you can raise revenues by lowering taxes. Even if you can, I imagine it would only be until other governing bodies catch on and follow suit. And this could be desirable.

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