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Questionably Good Policies, but Certainly Bad Timing

Questionably Good Policies, but Certainly Bad Timing

The last several months have seen interesting polices coming from both the GOP led legislative arm of government and the Trump Administration that should leave policy analysts, partisan affiliations aside, perplexed. The GOP in December of last year muscled through Tax Reform, a nod to their base of their desire to implement their economics of choice - supply side economics - which posits that a reduction in taxes and regulation on businesses would lead to a revitalized econo

Financing $1.5 trillion in Infrastructure Spending

Financing $1.5 trillion in Infrastructure Spending

In his first State of the Union address President Trump, among other things, called on Congress to send him a bill for $1.5 trillion in spending on public works. He further emphasized that this should be works that foster self reliance and private sector initiatives that attracted local spending. In a traditional sense this is one of the hallmarks of what the role of government might involve in an otherwise private market economy. The market is sometimes cast as this mechanis

Apple's $30 Billion Jobs Investment

Apple's $30 Billion Jobs Investment

Did you say "trickle down economics"? Scratch that... it looks like a waterfall. Apple plans to take advantage of the incentive in the Tax Reform law by paying the 15.5% one time tax on repatriated foreign profits, a tax of about $38 billion. Apple also in tandem plans to increase investment in the US by about $30 billion. According to a Reuter's news report, when asked whether the job creation announcements were directly related to the Republican tax plan, Apple CEO Tim Cook

High Tax Blue States and Tax Reform

High Tax Blue States and Tax Reform

From the scenes that played out at the end of last year as many residents in high property tax states rushed to try to prepay some or all of their 2018 taxes so as to fully deduct them on their 2017 tax returns to the continued search for ways to circumvent the SALT and property tax deduction cap imposed by tax reform, there is anger in New York, California, and New Jersey over the seeming unfairness of the new tax law. Is the anger justified? Perhaps, but this anger might as

Performing a Reality Check on the Tax Reform Law

Performing a Reality Check on the Tax Reform Law

The tax reform bill has now been signed into law by President Trump. It was all congratulations and excitement yesterday as the Republican members of Congress joined members of the Trump Administration to celebrate the passage of the bill and the delivery of a major part of their mandate - tax relief for American households and businesses and the provision of incentives believed will lead to jobs and income growth over time. Congressional Democrats on the other hand were all

Tax Reform and the Supply Side Promise (Tax Reform Part III)

Tax Reform and the Supply Side Promise (Tax Reform Part III)

The US House of Representatives passed in November the “Tax Cuts and Jobs Act” bill and the Senate followed with its own version shortly after Thanksgiving. Both bills intend to provide comprehensive tax reform and are premised on meeting three objectives: Reduce Taxes on Americans and American businesses in general. Simplify the tax code simple so that most filers can file it as easily as on a postcard. Grow the economy through the underlying economics of job growth through

Assessing the Impact of the Proposed Bills (Tax Reform Part II)

Assessing the Impact of the Proposed Bills (Tax Reform Part II)

The US House of Representatives passed in November the “Tax Cuts and Jobs Act” bill and the Senate followed with its own version shortly after Thanksgiving. Both bills purport comprehensive tax reform and are premised on meeting three objectives: Reduce Taxes on the middle class and on Americans and American businesses in general. Make the tax code simple enough so that most filers can file it on a postcard. Grow the economy through the underlying economics of job growth thro

What is the Cost of Tax Reform? (Tax Reform Part I)

What is the Cost of Tax Reform? (Tax Reform Part I)

The US House of Representatives passed in November the “Tax Cuts and Jobs Act” bill and the Senate followed with its own version shortly after Thanksgiving. Both bills intend to provide comprehensive tax reform and are premised on meeting three objectives: Reduce taxes on the middle class and on Americans and American businesses in general. Make the tax code simple enough so that most filers can file it on a postcard. Grow the economy through the underlying economics of job g

Sensible Tax Reform: Based off the Republican Blueprint

Sensible Tax Reform: Based off the Republican Blueprint

When talking about Tax Reform it is trite to put forward the ideal, and while this is often good in helping clarify our thinking about the issues and the "what ifs" in a perfect world, we economists often get caught up in that world and mistake it every so often for the real world. We forget our origins that we came from a philosophy of thought that was originally meshed with political reality. So while today we watch as Congress mulls over the prospect of what bill will come

Tax Reform: A back of envelope analysis

Tax Reform: A back of envelope analysis

The Trump Administration seeks to reform tax policy by making it simple, easy to file, and less of a tax burden on the middle class. The House has recently passed a Tax reform bill and Senate is set to attempt to pass the one that cleared the Finance Committee this week. The three important questions I ask are: 1. What is the true cost of tax reform? 2. Do the bills in their current form achieve the intended objective on face value? 3. What exactly does economics project will