:: blame the extended gestation.... ::

:: Friday, November 07, 2003 ::

The New Republic Online: Economy: Peter Orszag 11.06.03, 3:45 p.m.

"The 2001 and 2003 tax cuts were poorly designed to jump-start the economy in the short run, at the least from the perspective of achieving that goal at a reasonable long-term budget cost. Yes, the administration's tax cuts contributed to economic growth in the third quarter by boosting demand for goods and services--but almost any tax cut or spending increase would have done that. "

"A January 2002 analysis from the Congressional Budget Office concluded that accelerating reductions in marginal tax rates and cutting the capital gains tax rate, two of the principal components of the 2003 tax legislation, would both rank quite low in terms of short-term spur to the economy, per dollar of budget cost. Despite the administration's cheerleading about the tax cuts, the CBO analysis seems consistent with the evidence thus far. "

"Economy.com, an independent economic research firm, attributes only 0.9 percent out of the total 7.2 percent annualized growth in the third quarter to the 2003 tax cut. In other words, the Economy.com analysis suggests that the strength of the economy in the third quarter was not due primarily to the tax cut: Without the tax cut, growth would have still been an impressive 6.3 percent."

:: Jim Nichols 11/07/2003 04:52:00 PM [+] ::
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