I am in Boulder for the CNBC-hosted Republican presidential debate, on which I will be offering insights in my role as an on-air contributor.
I have written quite a bit about Donald Trump, Marco Rubio, and Jeb Bush. But not so much about Ben Carson, who leads in Iowa and in one national poll. Not so bad for the good doctor. But where is he policy-wise?
Republican presidential candidate Dr. Ben Carson greets supporters after a speech in Ames, Iowa on October 24, 2015. REUTERS/Mark Kauzlarich.
Here is Bloomberg on the evolving Carson tax plan:
Carson’s big idea is to remove much of the progressivity from the tax system, imposing a single rate of about 10 to 15 percent. “What the campaign hasn’t figured out yet, [Carson adviser Thomas] Rustici said, is whether it’s an income tax or a consumption tax and what deductions should vanish. … So would poor families get more cash from President Carson than they get now? Probably not, given his support for lower taxes and a balanced budget, but at this point, it’s hard to tell. … With the government projected to run $7 trillion in deficits over the next decade, or about 3 percent of the economy, Carson will be scouring the government for areas to cut. The campaign hasn’t settled on any proposals, but the first two things Rustici mentioned as his own ideas were federal support for the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, both relatively small in the broader budget context.
This is a good example of Republicans sort of fixating on a particular tax rate – 28% because that’s what it was (kind of) when Reagan left office or 25% because that was the Coolidge (!) low or 10% because of the Bible — and not thinking more deeply about the role of tax reform and the tax code in the 21st-century economy.
For example: Given the aging of American society and our defense needs, what is a realistic level of government spending over the next generation? Are certain kinds of tax cuts very costly but unlikely to generate much economic growth? Should we transition to a consumption tax? What is the role of the tax code in boosting incomes directly? On that last question, many conservatives have embraced wage subsidies as an alternative to raising the minimum wage in order to boost living standards for poorer Americans.
Anyway, these are some of the questions I would begin with. Now maybe Carson has done this, but the Bloomberg piece certainly does not suggest such an analysis has taken place.
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