Stupid, Dishonest, and Illogical
By It’s true, of course, that Yglesias and Chait are both right. But both leave out my favorite part about “small government” supply-siders. Here, remember, are their premises:
- government should be smaller and less intrusive
- cuts to marginal tax rate produce more revenues
Therefore, the desirable policy outcome for a small government supply-sider is higher marginal tax rates, which would presumably starve the beast. Tax cuts would be bad, because they would provide more tax revenues, and hence more state intervention.
So, when “small government” supply-siders support more tax cuts we can assume that 1)they’re morons, 2)they’re arguing in bad faith and don’t really believe that cutting taxes produces more revenues, or 3)a little from column A, a little from column B…