28 May, 2008

The FairTax and Economic Growth

Great blog post on what we can expect our economy to do when we adopt the FairTax.

I'll just give you the money quote.  But read the whole thing.

Our economy would be almost three times larger in 2082 if we average 3.5% growth than it would be if growth averaged 2.0%. The “present value” of our GDP over the 75-year period would be more than 70% larger. The implications of this difference are staggering

8 comments:

  1. But what if the average growth was 5.5% with sharply reduced government spending?? I would imagine that by the year 2082 (who makes the decision to predict to this year - if I were born last year I would be 75 years old by 2082).

    The difference is only staggering if we actually get to the year 2014 without the sea change of the Fair Tax capsizing the US economy.

    There is a reason why the Fair Tax isn't adopted and one reason is that there are very real concerns about the _potential_ benefits.

    There are people who think the Fair Tax would have a negative effect - I am one of them.

    Thane Eichenauer, Libertarian candidate for congress AZ-1
    http://eichenauer.tk/

    If you haven't researched the Fair Tax I encourage readers to visit:

    http://fairtaxfraud.com/

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  2. I'm honored to have an actual candidate for office commenting on my blog. I wish you luck, as I feel that we need more third-party/non-traditional views in Washington. Also, while I have disagreements with the Libertarian party, for the most part, the Libertarian view is closest to my own.

    Unfortunately, the site you link to makes many statements about the FairTax that are flat out wrong, and make me wonder if the authors have even read the bill. I'll comment further in upcoming post when I've had time to go through the site completely. I'm barely 20% through it, and already it appears to me to be at best confused about the FairTax, and at worst, deliberately giving out misinformation.

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  3. I am happy to hear from someone who is willing to look at an opposing position on the Fair Tax. I initially came across the Fair Tax and found it was worth further study. I have seen very little online responding to what I think are sincere objections to the Fair Tax.

    If the Fair Tax is good then I imagine you can offer some counters to them - indeed I encourage you to do so.

    I encourage you to read the first four articles on the Fair Tax by Laurance M. Vance at mises.org.

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  4. Further study is good. I require any politician I vote for to have a reasoned opinion on the FairTax. They don't have to be for it, but they have to know what they're talking about. I was planning a post rebutting some of the claims on the first site you mentioned today. I'll look at the new link, but then it might be a day or two further before I have a chance to respond.

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  5. I've read Vance's criticism. Unlike the other site you linked to, he appears to actually have read the bill, and both of the Boortz/Linder books on the subject.

    He has some criticisms that I share and have mentioned myself (not on this blog yet, because I haven't had the time), and some that I feel are off-base.

    I think I will go ahead and finish my rebuttal to fairtaxfraud and then critique Mr. Vances's words in a separate post.

    Thanks again for stopping by and for pointing out the information.

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  6. I have not gone through life with blinders on. I research all things I believe are important. I was a very active supporter of the Flat Tax when Dick Armey was promoting it. I found the FairTax and did the same. This led me to research the entire history of our tax system. It fact I went back to Civil War and up to the present day. I've read articles by the critics, including Bruce Barlett and yes FairTax Fraud. Never, and I mean never has anyone come up with a legitimate reason to oppose the FairTax, "AS WRITTEN ".
    Just once I'd like to see someone defend our current tax code. "AS WRITTEN". Good Luck! Why hasn't the FairTax passed yet? Because there are too many people like Mr.Eichenauer in Washington already. His post make absolutely no sense. The FairTax will not bring about Utopia, just a better way to fund the government.When people like Mr. Eichenauer and people like FairTax Fraud make the comments they do I'm reminded of a quote by Albert Einstien, " The only things that are infinite are the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the universe."

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  7. Well, perhaps. Sites like FairTaxFraud are definitely part of the problem. Most people in Washington who oppose the FairTax appear to not really understand it at all. So, they oppose something quite different than the FairTax.

    As I said in an earlier comment, I require any candidate I vote for to have a reasoned opinion on the FairTax. You don't have to support it, but you do have to understand it and oppose it for legitimate reasons.

    And there are legitimate reasons to be opposed to it. Like you, I don't think those reasons work when you compare things to the current tax code.

    I did put my FairTaxFraud smackdown here.

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  8. I think I'm going to pass on a rebuttal to Mr. Vance's comments. Kolitikoff has already done 90% of it for me, and I don't feel like quoting Kolitikoff in his entirety just to add a few more words.

    You can read his rebuttal here

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