December 3, 2012

Tax Revenue, Post-WWII, Averages 17.7 Percent Of GDP

In the years since World War II (1946-2011), federal tax receipts have averaged 17.7% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP). This is probably the best way to gauge the federal tax burden because it compares it to economic output. Since there are many arguments in and out of Washington D.C. about the effects of taxation on economic growth, it makes sense to directly compare the measure of taxation (total federal tax receipts) with the measure of economic output (GDP).

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November 4, 2012

What’s More Important, The Economy Or The Deficit?

I know some will say this is a false choice, but I ask, what is more important, the economy or the deficit? The economy has steadily improved since the Great Recession but it has a long way to go to get back to a more historical norm for unemployment of around five percent. Since we know the economy is not yet booming, why are we so fixated on reducing the deficit and cutting spending? Many of the same people calling for spending cuts say we cannot increase taxes because it would harm the economy, but why do they think spending cuts will have no effect on the economy? In fact, many so-called deficit hawks say the deficit itself is harming the economy, which really makes no sense at all.

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October 22, 2012

Federal Deficit: Did Someone Forget How Budgets Work? — It’s Spending AND Revenue

I know there is a line of thinking out there that posits once a president takes office, everything that happens within the federal government is under his control. This line of thinking was no less false when Bush was president then it is now when Obama is president. It’s not about blame, it’s about facts, and when it comes to the federal budget, and more specifically the year-after-year trillion-dollar plus deficits, it seems people need a few lessons.

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October 10, 2012

Romney and Ryan: Higher Military Spending, Lower Taxes — Fiscal Hawks?

Can you be called a “fiscal hawk” or a “deficit hawk” if you are pushing for higher military spending along with a built-in floor that stipulates “core defense spending” must be maintained at 4% of GDP? Can you be called a fiscal or deficit hawk if you advocate for lower, across-the-board tax cuts at a time when the federal government is running trillion-dollar-plus deficits?

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