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		<title>Norman&#039;s Blog</title>
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		<copyright>Copyright 2026, Norman MacIntyre &lt;normanmacintyre3@aim.com&gt;</copyright>
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			<title>Do Tax Rate Cuts Increase Tax Revenues?</title>
			<link>http://normanmacintyre.freehostia.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry141126-210302</link>
			<description><![CDATA[The historical evidence indicates that some tax cuts do increase tax revenues and some do not. For example, the 2001 tax cuts did not increase tax revenues but the 2003 cuts did. It can be argued that the 2003 tax rate decreases did more to raise federal receipts than the 1993 tax rate increases even when adjusted for inflation.<br /><br />John Maynard Keynes wrote,<br /><blockquote>Nor should the argument seem strange that taxation may be so high as to defeat its object, and that, given sufficient time to gather the fruits, a reduction of taxation will run a better chance than an increase of balancing the budget. For to take the opposite view today is to resemble a manufacturer who, running at a loss, decides to raise his price, and when his declining sales increase the loss, wrapping himself in the rectitude of plain arithmetic, decides that prudence requires him to raise the price still more -- and who, when at last his account is balanced with nought on both sides, is still found righteously declaring that it would have been the act of a gambler to reduce the price when you were already making a loss.</blockquote><br /><br /><table width="100%">
	<tr>
		<td align="center" colspan="6">US Federal Receipts (in millions)</td>
	</tr>
	<tr>
		<td align="center" colspan="3">Current Dollars</td>
		<td align="center" colspan="3">Chained 1993 Dollars</td>
	</tr>
	<tr>
		<td align="center"> Fiscal Year </td>
		<td align="center"> Receipts </td>
		<td align="center"> % <br /> Change </td>
		<td align="center"> Inflation <br /> Adjustment </td>
		<td align="center"> Adjusted <br /> Receipts </td>
		<td align="center"> % <br /> Change </td>
	</tr>
	<tr>
		<td align="center">1993</td>
		<td align="center">1,154,335</td>
		<td align="center">--</td>
		<td align="center">1.000</td>
		<td align="center">1,154,335</td>
		<td align="center">--</td>
	</tr>
	<tr>
		<td align="center">1994</td>
		<td align="center">1,258,566</td>
		<td align="center">9.03%</td>
		<td align="center">0.980</td>
		<td align="center">1,232,801</td>
		<td align="center">6.80%</td>
	</tr>
	<tr>
		<td align="center">1995</td>
		<td align="center">1,351,790</td>
		<td align="center">7.41%</td>
		<td align="center">0.960</td>
		<td align="center">1,298,329</td>
		<td align="center">5.32%</td>
	</tr>
	<tr>
		<td align="center">1996</td>
		<td align="center">1,453,053</td>
		<td align="center">7.49%</td>
		<td align="center">0.939</td>
		<td align="center">1,364,920</td>
		<td align="center">5.13%</td>
	</tr>
	<tr>
		<td align="center">1997</td>
		<td align="center">1,579,232</td>
		<td align="center">8.68%</td>
		<td align="center">0.926</td>
		<td align="center">1,462,663</td>
		<td align="center">7.16%</td>
	</tr>
	<tr>
		<td align="center">1998</td>
		<td align="center">1,721,728</td>
		<td align="center">9.02%</td>
		<td align="center">0.920</td>
		<td align="center">1,583,608</td>
		<td align="center">8.27%</td>
	</tr>
	<tr>
		<td align="center">1999</td>
		<td align="center">1,827,452</td>
		<td align="center">6.14%</td>
		<td align="center">0.903</td>
		<td align="center">1,650,763</td>
		<td align="center">4.24%</td>
	</tr>
	<tr>
		<td align="center">2000</td>
		<td align="center">2,025,191</td>
		<td align="center">10.82%</td>
		<td align="center">0.881</td>
		<td align="center">1,784,785</td>
		<td align="center">8.12%</td>
	</tr>
	<tr>
		<td align="center">2001</td>
		<td align="center">1,991,082</td>
		<td align="center">-1.68%</td>
		<td align="center">0.868</td>
		<td align="center">1,728,707</td>
		<td align="center">-3.14%</td>
	</tr>
	<tr>
		<td align="center">2002</td>
		<td align="center">1,853,136</td>
		<td align="center">-6.93%</td>
		<td align="center">0.853</td>
		<td align="center">1,581,195</td>
		<td align="center">-8.53%</td>
	</tr>
	<tr>
		<td align="center">2003</td>
		<td align="center">1,782,314</td>
		<td align="center">-3.82%</td>
		<td align="center">0.838</td>
		<td align="center">1,494,342</td>
		<td align="center">-5.49%</td>
	</tr>
	<tr>
		<td align="center">2004</td>
		<td align="center">1,880,114</td>
		<td align="center">5.49%</td>
		<td align="center">0.816</td>
		<td align="center">1,533,947</td>
		<td align="center">2.65%</td>
	</tr>
	<tr>
		<td align="center">2005</td>
		<td align="center">2,153,611</td>
		<td align="center">14.55%</td>
		<td align="center">0.788</td>
		<td align="center">1,697,688</td>
		<td align="center">10.67%</td>
	</tr>
	<tr>
		<td align="center">2006</td>
		<td align="center">2,406,869</td>
		<td align="center">11.76%</td>
		<td align="center">0.777</td>
		<td align="center">1,869,664</td>
		<td align="center">10.13%</td>
	</tr>
	<tr>
		<td align="center" colspan="6">Inflation</td>
	</tr>
	<tr>
		<td align="center"> Date </td>
		<td align="center" colspan="2"> PCE Value </td>
		<td align="center" colspan="2"> Inflation Adjustment </td>
		<td align="center"> Inflation </td>
	</tr>
	<tr>
		<td align="center">Oct 1993</td>
		<td align="center" colspan="2">73.780</td>
		<td align="center" colspan="2">1.000</td>
		<td align="center">--</td>
	</tr>
	<tr>
		<td align="center">Oct 1994</td>
		<td align="center" colspan="2">75.322</td>
		<td align="center" colspan="2">0.980</td>
		<td align="center">2.09%</td>
	</tr>
	<tr>
		<td align="center">Oct 1995</td>
		<td align="center" colspan="2">76.818</td>
		<td align="center" colspan="2">0.960</td>
		<td align="center">1.99%</td>
	</tr>
	<tr>
		<td align="center">Oct 1996</td>
		<td align="center" colspan="2">78.544</td>
		<td align="center" colspan="2">0.939</td>
		<td align="center" colspan="2">2.25%</td>
	</tr>
	<tr>
		<td align="center">Oct 1997</td>
		<td align="center" colspan="2">79.660</td>
		<td align="center" colspan="2">0.926</td>
		<td align="center">1.42%</td>
	</tr>
	<tr>
		<td align="center">Oct 1998</td>
		<td align="center" colspan="2">80.215</td>
		<td align="center" colspan="2">0.920</td>
		<td align="center">0.70%</td>
	</tr>
	<tr>
		<td align="center">Oct 1999</td>
		<td align="center" colspan="2">81.677</td>
		<td align="center" colspan="2">0.903</td>
		<td align="center">1.82%</td>
	</tr>
	<tr>
		<td align="center">Oct 2000</td>
		<td align="center" colspan="2">83.718</td>
		<td align="center" colspan="2">0.881</td>
		<td align="center">2.50%</td>
	</tr>
	<tr>
		<td align="center">Oct 2001</td>
		<td align="center" colspan="2">84.978</td>
		<td align="center" colspan="2">0.868</td>
		<td align="center">1.51%</td>
	</tr>
	<tr>
		<td align="center">Oct 2002</td>
		<td align="center" colspan="2">86.469</td>
		<td align="center" colspan="2">0.853</td>
		<td align="center">1.75%</td>
	</tr>
	<tr>
		<td align="center">Oct 2003</td>
		<td align="center" colspan="2">87.998</td>
		<td align="center" colspan="2">0.838</td>
		<td align="center">1.77%</td>
	</tr>
	<tr>
		<td align="center">Oct 2004</td>
		<td align="center" colspan="2">90.430</td>
		<td align="center" colspan="2">0.816</td>
		<td align="center">2.76%</td>
	</tr>
	<tr>
		<td align="center">Oct 2005</td>
		<td align="center" colspan="2">93.594</td>
		<td align="center" colspan="2">0.788</td>
		<td align="center">3.50%</td>
	</tr>
	<tr>
		<td align="center">Oct 2006</td>
		<td align="center" colspan="2">94.979</td>
		<td align="center" colspan="2">0.777</td>
		<td align="center">1.48%</td>
	</tr>
</table>
<br /><br />Sources: <a href="http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/data/FYFR.txt" target="_blank" >Federal Receipts, Federal Reserve Economic Database</a> and <a href="http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/data/PCEPI.txt" target="_blank" >PCE: Chain-type Price Index, Federal Reserve Economic Database</a><br />]]></description>
			<category>Politics, Economy</category>
			<guid isPermaLink="true">http://normanmacintyre.freehostia.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry141126-210302</guid>
			<author>Norman MacIntyre &lt;normanmacintyre3@aim.com&gt;</author>
			<pubDate>Wed, 26 Nov 2014 21:03:02 GMT</pubDate>
		</item>
		<item>
			<title>Graphical Presidential Economic Comparison</title>
			<link>http://normanmacintyre.freehostia.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry080406-041811</link>
			<description><![CDATA[President George W. Bush<br /><br /><a href="javascript:openpopup('images/gdp01-08.png',630,378,false);"><img src="images/gdp01-08.png" width="484" height="290" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br />President William J. Clinton<br /><br /><a href="javascript:openpopup('images/gdp93-01.png',630,378,false);"><img src="images/gdp93-01.png" width="484" height="290" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br />President George H. W. Bush<br /><br /><a href="javascript:openpopup('images/gdp89-93.png',630,378,false);"><img src="images/gdp89-93.png" width="484" height="290" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br />President Ronald W. Reagan<br /><br /><a href="javascript:openpopup('images/gdp81-89.png',630,378,false);"><img src="images/gdp81-89.png" width="484" height="290" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br />It is good to have Republicans in office when recessions occur because they are ideologically better suited to facilitate recoveries.]]></description>
			<category>Politics, Economy</category>
			<guid isPermaLink="true">http://normanmacintyre.freehostia.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry080406-041811</guid>
			<author>Norman MacIntyre &lt;normanmacintyre3@aim.com&gt;</author>
			<pubDate>Sun, 06 Apr 2008 02:18:11 GMT</pubDate>
		</item>
		<item>
			<title>Realism About Minimum Wage Laws</title>
			<link>http://normanmacintyre.freehostia.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry070114-150008</link>
			<description><![CDATA[In 1995, the Democratic President stated:<br /><blockquote>Now, I&#039;ve studied the arguments and the evidence for and against a minimum wage increase. I believe the weight of the evidence is that a modest increase does not cost jobs, and may even lure people back into the job market.</blockquote><br />This is the Card-Krueger lie where science is supplanted by politics. Scientifically, an increase in the minimum wage increases unemployment and increases inflation, ceteris paribus. Note the words &quot;ceteris paribus!&quot; If the minimum wage is increased and unemployment and/or inflation do not also increase, it is attributable to offsetting variables. It is fallacy to conclude the causal relationship does not exist.<br /><br />Be realistic about the minimum wage. Given inflation, the minimum wage, in and of itself, does nothing to elevate the standard of living of minimum wage earners. However, it is the catalyst for other variables changing to mitigate adverse effects. Pressure is brought to bear upon businesses to gain efficiencies and economies of scale and/or scope.<br /><br />Perhaps, a better way to help low wage earners is the Earned Income Tax Credit. It does not subsidize teenage workers of wealthy families.]]></description>
			<category>Politics, Economy</category>
			<guid isPermaLink="true">http://normanmacintyre.freehostia.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry070114-150008</guid>
			<author>Norman MacIntyre &lt;normanmacintyre3@aim.com&gt;</author>
			<pubDate>Sun, 14 Jan 2007 20:00:08 GMT</pubDate>
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