THE HEAVY LONG-TERM TOLL OF THE BUSH TAX CUTS

摘要

Sometimes, the short term seems so urgent that we forget about the long term. More often than not, the electoral cycle makes politicians the chief offenders. The latest example is the 2003 tax package, officially totaling $350 billion over 11 years. It is the Bush Administration's third round of tax cuts in three years and the largest since the record reductions of the Reagan Administration in 1981. For now, it seems to offer just what a beleaguered economy needs most, a healthy dose of stimulus to jolt demand. But in the next 11 years, how much growth will the economy have to give back as a result of these measures?