More on the Disastrous Bush Tax Cuts
So, to recap: The Bush tax cuts were followed by low GDP growth, negative median wage growth, and little job growth. Even before the Great Recession, growth in the Bush business cycle was the weakest since World War II. And the cuts cost about $2.6 trillion between 2001 and 2010, according to the Economic Policy Institute—adding to a debt future generations of taxpayers will pay for, plus interest.
By Bush’s own metrics, then, the tax cuts were a failure. But perhaps that is because Bush chose such absurd metrics and made such silly promises about tax cuts’ economic omnipotence in the first place.
But don’t kid yourself — even more of the same will be great!
(Update by Erik): I really wonder whether, when all is said and done, the Bush Tax Cuts won’t be what the Bush Administration is most known for instead of 9/11 and Iraq. They may prove among the most disastrous policies in American history, along with Jefferson’s Embargo, the Kansas-Nebraska Act, and the Smoot-Hawley Tariff.