The U.S. recently passed the first major tax policy change in years. Over the past months I have been reading and noting articles on the issue and saving the ones I think have something useful to say on the topic, whether I agree or disagree. I have listed these articles below.
I don’t pretend there is no bias in these articles, but we are all intelligent individuals, capable of recognizing and accounting for that, as we have done for the history of printed media (the “fake news” bandwagon notwithstanding). Thus, the fact that bias may exist doesn’t by itself mean that an article is without value.
I also don’t pretend that I have a super diverse set of sources. Like all of us, I have my own tendency toward confirmation bias in choosing sources of news and information and limited time to expand my reading universe. Still, there are at least 10 different sources represented, so hopefully that introduces a small amount of diversity. Whether it is useful or not, I have grouped the articles by their source.
Obviously, this is very topical as the bill has already been enacted. Still, some of the issues covered will remain salient going forward, either because they weren’t fully or adequately addressed in the changes made or because they are perennial issues that any government needs to consider.
So, if you are interested in reading more about tax policy, here is a collection of articles to get you started.
Bloomberg
- Five Big Sticking Points in the Republican Tax Plan
By Anna Edgerton, Erik Wasson, Sahil Kapur, and Laura Davison
November 3, 2017 - Multinationals Scurry to Defuse House Tax Bill’s ‘Atomic Bomb’
Lynnley Browning, November 7, 2017 - This Tax Bill Is a Trillion-Dollar Blunder
Michael R. Bloomberg, December 15, 2017 - How Republicans’ Tax Promises Stack Up to Their Actual Plan
Sahil Kapur, December 19, 2017
Harvard Business Review
- A Brief Guide to U.S. Corporate Tax Reform
org by Walter Frick - What Workers and Companies Should Know About the Republican Tax Bills
Eric Toder - How the New U.S. Tax Plan Will Affect Health Care
David Blumenthal - Breaking Down the New U.S. Corporate Tax Law
Mihir Desai
Knowledge@Wharton
- Time for a Tax Overhaul: What the U.S. Can Learn from Other Countries
R. Reid - How Rising Deficits, Huge Loopholes and Small Family Gains Plague Tax Reform
Kent Smetters
New York Times
- Trump’s Tax Cuts May Be More Damaging Than Reagan’s
Steven Rattner , May 01, 2017 - In Battle Over Tax Cuts, It’s Republicans vs. Economists
Alan Rappeport, Sept 22, 2017 - With Tax Cuts on the Table, Once-Mighty Deficit Hawks Hardly Chirp
Thomas Kaplans, Sept. 28, 2017 - Tax Cuts, Sold as Fuel for Growth, Widen Gap Between Rich and Poor
Eduardo Porter, Oct. 3, 2017 - Why Corporate Tax Cuts Won’t Create Jobs
Marcus Ryu, Oct. 9, 2017 - Cutting Taxes Is Hard. Trump Is Making It Harder.
Jim Tankersley, Oct. 23, 2017 - How Trump’s Corporate-Tax Plan Could Send American Jobs Overseas
Jim Tankersley, Nov. 2, 2017 - Six Charts That Help Explain the Republican Tax Plan
Alicia Parlapiano, Nov. 2, 2017 - How Corporations and the Wealthy Avoid Taxes (and How to Stop Them)
Gabriel Zucman, Nov. 10, 2017 - Tax Reform That Doesn’t Bust the Budget? I’ve Got a Few Ideas
James B. Stewart, Oct. 5, 2017 - The Senate’s Official Scorekeeper Says The Republican Tax Plan Will Add $1 Trillion to the Deficit
Jugal K. Patel and Alicia Parlapiano, Nov. 30, 2017 - Conservative Groups Seeking Support for Tax Cuts Find It a Hard Sell
Jeremy W. Peters, Dec. 6, 2017
PBS
- What other countries can teach America about taxes
Paul Solman, April 13, 2017 - America’s long, complicated history with tax reform
Lisa Desjardins, September 12, 2017 - Analysis: Would cutting corporate taxes raise incomes for workers?
Kimberly Clausing, October 30, 2017 - Who wins and who loses in the GOP Senate tax plan
Marcy Gordon, November 17, 2017 - How the Senate tax bill affects rich and poor, in three charts
Lisa Desjardins, November 28, 2017 - How the GOP tax overhaul compares to the Reagan-era tax bills
Jeffrey Frankel, December 4, 2017 - Opinion: The Republican tax bill is a fiscally irresponsible, loophole-ridden mistake
Alex Raskolnikov, December 6, 2017 - Do tax cuts spur growth? What we can learn from the Kansas budget crisis
December 7, 2017 - Everything you need to know about the GOP’s final tax plan in 3 charts
Lisa Desjardins, December 15, 2017 - How transformative is the tax bill, really?
Daniel Bush, Mark Mazur, December 26, 2017
The Atlantic
- Tax Reform Will Be a Nightmare
Donald Trump observed that health care policy is “so complicated.” The next item on his agenda, tax policy, will be just as knotty.
Derek Thompson, Mar 28, 2017 - How Much Do Tax Cuts Really Matter?
The economic records of former presidents hold a lesson for Donald Trump.
Ronald Brownstein, Sep 21, 2017 - How Trump Is Endangering His Prized Tax Cuts
One by one, and to the annoyance of GOP lawmakers, the president is rejecting proposals Republicans may need to adopt to pay for their costly plan.
Russell Berman, Oct 25, 2017 - The president maintains his proposal would limit offshoring. A major provision of it would do just the opposite.
Gene B. Sperling, Nov 1, 2017 - The Original Sin of the GOP Tax Plan
How did a proposal to simplify the tax code become such a mess? Blame its first principles.
Derek Thompson, Nov 3, 2017 - Why the GOP’s Dream of Tax Reform Is (Probably) Doomed
Republicans are screwing up their big tax cut. They can still salvage it. But they have to think small.
Derek Thompson, Nov 9, 2017 - Senate Republicans Go Their Own Way on Tax Reform
The GOP was supposed to be unified on taxes after internal divisions destroyed their health-care drive. But the party’s majorities in Congress now have two competing legislative proposals once again.
Russell Berman, Nov 9, 2017 - The Very Bad Arguments for Killing the Estate Tax
It’s minuscule, cumbersome, and easily avoided. It’s also a symbol of Washington’s approach to dynastic wealth and the American Dream.
Derek Thompson, Nov 13, 2017 - Republicans Are Throwing Away Their Shot at Tax Reform
There’s a manifest need to lower corporate tax rates—but instead of building consensus, the GOP is pursuing a bill that’s likely to be rolled back even if it passes.
David Frum, Nov 20, 2017 - Why Everybody Hates the GOP Tax Bill
The public seems to be against the plan precisely because they know what’s in it.
Derek Thompson - The 7 Myths of the GOP Tax Bill
It will supercharge growth, help the middle class, and boost workers’ pay. Or will it?
Annie Lowrey, Dec 1, 2017 - How the Tax Plan Will Send Jobs Overseas
Companies are going to be able to save a ton of money by locating factories abroad.
Gene B. Sperling, Dec 8, 2017 - The Great, Overlooked Tax Policy for Getting People to Work
Yet more evidence piles up for effectiveness of the Earned Income Tax Credit.
Annie Lowrey, Jan 2, 2018
Other Sources
- Analyzing the Trump Tax Plan
A former acting director of the Congressional Budget Office explains the impact on the deficit, corporate taxes, and pass-through income.
Based on insights from Janice C. Eberly and Donald Marron | Kellogg Insight - GOP Tax Bill Is The End Of All Economic Sanity In Washington
Stan Collender | Forbes - Chief Economic Advisor to Trump: “The most excited group out there are big CEOs, about our tax plan.” A CEO’s Perspective
David Mendels | LinkedIn - Out of 42 top economists, only 1 believes the GOP tax bills would help the economy
But all of them think it will increase the debt.
Ezra Klein | Vox - Economists Say The Trump Tax Plan Will Have Disastrous Consequences
John T. Harvey | Forbes - Tax Reform: Giving with One Hand and Taking with the Other
A new study by Stanford’s Rebecca Lester suggests that the GOP plan to cut corporate tax rates could also discourage risk-taking.
Edmund Andrews, Rebecca Lester, December 4, 2017 | Stanford - As tax plan gained steam, GOP lost focus on the middle class
Damian Paletta, December 9, 2017 | Washington Post - Almost Everything Is Wrong With the New Tax Law
It’s not the biggest cut in American history, and it blows a large hole in the federal deficit.
Alan S. Blinder, Dec. 27, 2017 | Wall Street Journal
Subjects: Economics | Economy, Politics & Public Policy
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