Public-private competition can lay the groundwork for changes inrevenue-estimating transparency practices, but Congress can set therules, and a Blue Ribbon Commission sponsored by a governmentagency, nonprofit group, or accounting or law firm might also beuseful. One thing is sure: Change in revenue-estimatingtransparency is needed at both the Treasury Department and theJoint Committee on Taxation.
The supply-side framework outlined in this paper does not include all the effects of taxation that economists would like to examine. Depending on one's perspective, the glass could be considered half-full as well as half-empty. But if the only "dynamic" thing the Joint Committee on Taxation did was to incorporate the detrimental effects of federal deficits on capital formation, this would be more than worth the effort.
Chart 2: Wealthy Taxpayers Rely Less on Wage and Salary Income Than Any Other Income Class
Chart 3: Changes In Tax Rates Have Little Effect on Revenues
Chart 4: Rich Pay More Following 1920s Tax Cuts
Chart 5: Rich Paid More Under 1960s Kennedy Tax Cuts
Chart 6: Reagan Tax Cuts Generated 31% More Tax Revenue From the Wealthy
Chart 7: Higher Tax Rates, Lower Revenue
Introduction
One of the most important fiscal policy debates developing in this election involves the question of whether changes in tax policy have supply-side effects. In other words, will lower tax rates increase economic growth, resulting in more jobs, higher wages, and bigger profits? If the answer is yes meaning that lower tax rates cause taxable income to rise it is reasonable to argue that a tax cut will be at least partially self-financing. The extent to which increased revenue from a bigger tax base helps offset the revenue loss from lower tax rates then becomes an empirical question. This is what st