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Monday, December 20, 2010

Why Extending The "W Tax Cuts" Was Nonsense

Dec 20th 2010

A MAJOR HAT TIP TO GEORGE STOCKER FOR GRAPHIC ASSISTANCE WITH THIS
I have said for several years that the "W Tax Cuts" were a bona fide disaster. There is no legitimate argument to the contrary. We now live in a state of permawar on 2 fronts, we have radically expanded corporate welfare in as many other ways as possible and our infrastructure is collapsing. We need to invest in America on a level not seen since... well, frankly, on a level not seen.

The chart and figures posted below are from The Wall Street Journal
The single argument for extending this failed policy has been that it will create JOBS.

"Pro growth tax cuts... always create jobs."

Except they didn't. Under George W. Bush, we added 7.5 million fewer jobs to the economy than we did under 4 years of Jimmy Carter. It's worth noting that the American population was roughly 80 million fewer people in the Carter Era. When viewed per capita, this is beyond poor; It represents the fundamental collapse of job creation as we used to know it. There is much to learn from these numbers and others we will be publishing using them as context.

When? For the love of God, are these tax policies going to start "stimulating?"

President
Jobs created
Jobs at end of term
Jobs at start of term
Payroll expansion
Jobs created per year in office
Population growth
Percent change in population
George W. Bush
3.0 million
135.5 million
132.5 million
2.3%
375,000
22.0 million
7.7%
Bill Clinton
23.1 million
132.5 million
109.4 million
21.1%
2,900,000
25.2 million
8.9%
George H.W. Bush
2.5 million
109.4 million
106.9 million
2.3%
625,000
12.5 million
4.8%
Ronald Reagan
16.0 million
106.9 million
90.9 million
17.6%
2,000,000
17.3 million
7%
Jimmy Carter
10.5 million
90.9 million
80.4 million
13.1%
2,600,000
9.8 million
4.3%
Gerald Ford
1.8 million
80.4 million
78.6 million
2.3%
745,000
5.1 million
2.3%
Richard Nixon
9.4 million
78.6 million
69.2 million
13.6%
1,700,000
12.3 million
5.7%
Lyndon Johnson
11.9 million
69.2 million
57.3 million
20.8%
2,300,000
11.3 million
5.6%
John F. Kennedy
3.6 million
57.3 million
53.7 million
6.7%
1,200,000
8.2 million
4.3%
Dwight Eisenhower
3.5 million
53.7 million
50.2 million
7%
438,000
23.3 million
12.8%
Harry Truman
8.4 million
50.2 million
41.8 million
20.1%
1,100,000
N/A
N/A

1 comment:

  1. Don't forget 'trade policies' and 'deregulation', which has possibly had an even greater impact on jobs. We've lost 50,000 manufacturing facilities, just in the past 10 years! Wasn't it Adam Smith who said, "A stick on the ground has no commercial value, but if you add labor to it by carving it into an axe handle — a thing of commercial value — you have created wealth." We don't make enough things, anymore. We've encouraged labor, off shore; and imported cheaper labor, even in the tech industry. Globalism is killing us, and it didn't have to.

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