Republicans still can’t explain why their economic ideas keep failing

[applegrove]

Republicans still can’t explain why their economic ideas keep failing

by Paul Waldman at the Washington Post

https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2015/11/11/republicans-still-cant-explain-why-their-economic-ideas-keep-failing/

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In other words, she didn't answer the question. But its essence is: The Republican candidates all propose variations on the same theme, which is that the way to boost the economy is to cut taxes and scale back government regulation of business. In other words, here’s the plan all the Republicans agree on:

1) Cut taxes, particularly for the wealthy.

2) Scale back regulations on business.

3) Watch the economy boom.

The trouble is that we’ve been testing their theory for some time now, and it isn’t holding up well. That’s particularly true of its flip side, which is that tax increases and more regulation inevitably strangle the economy. Barack Obama has increased taxes and regulations, and job growth during his presidency has been solid. Unemployment is now at a mere five percent; you may remember that in 2012, Mitt Romney said his economic plan was so great that he could bring unemployment below six percent by the end of 2016. It’s true that wages have been stagnant, but that’s a condition that goes back decades. Even if you grant that the economy isn’t what we’d like it to be right now, the Republican theory predicts that the Obama policies would have produced not an incomplete recovery from the financial collapse, but outright economic disaster. Their theory also says that we should have had a huge economic boom during George W. Bush’s administration, and another economic disaster under Bill Clinton, who also raised taxes and increased regulations. None of those things happened.

And today, there’s simply no meaningful way in which the proposals of the current crop of GOP candidates differ from what George W. Bush did. There are some differences in the details, particularly the more fantastical proposals that no one takes seriously, like bringing income taxes down to a 15 percent rate for everyone. But those are differences of degree, not kind; they’re just about how deeply you want to cut taxes, not whether tax cuts pave the path to economic glory, which all Republicans accept. The essential strategy is the same: Cut taxes and cut regulations, then enjoy unending prosperity for all.



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[TheMastersNemesis]

1. GOP Economic Policies Work For Their Rich Constituents. They Know.