Fiscal Theory

In choosing whether tax cuts should be big or small, will the U.S. follow the path of Germany's Ludwig Erhard or of the socialists in Britain? Gregory Bresiger explains what's at issue.

Tax cuts are great, but there is a missing element in Bush's budget: any attempt to cut outlays. New spending must be paid for somehow, someday, writes Frank Shostak.

Bush's tax cut proposal is way too modest. Here's James Ostrowski's plan for a $21 trillion tax cut. It would not only get the economy going; it would restore a free market.

He has succeeded in misleading almost everyone into accepting a bizarre and idiosyncratic view of the business cycle, writes Joseph Salerno.

Socialists like Bernie Sanders are pushing rebates as a substitute for tax cuts. William Anderson explains that the idea is morally and economically bankrupt.

Paul Krugman rails against cutting taxes, but his own quack solution is more of what brought about the downturn in the first place.

The system is wide open to abuse, maltreatment, and even corruption, writes Hans Sennholz

Economists like them, and they serve some useful purposes. But Frank Shostak reminds us that they can't predict the future.

Bill Anderson explains why politicians treat budget surpluses as their own personal reward, and wouldn't think of giving the money back from whence it came.  

This speech was delivered before the annual convention of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, St. Louis, Missouri, October 26, 2000.