Forbes Begins Candidate Tax Plan Series

5 September 2008 - 5:06am
September 5 - Today, Forbes published the first in a series of articles on the differences between the presidential candidates' tax plans. The article argues that both candidates "tend to adhere to their parties' usual approaches to tax policy," and that both plans would substantially increase the national debt. The article also quotes Wharton professor Nicholas Souleles articulating why deficit financing, over the long-run, does not replace hard choices; he explains that:
"In deciding how much we're going to tax and spend now, we're implicitly deciding how much we're going to tax and spend in the future... Given our debt, if we increase our deficit spending now, we're going to either have to cut spending or raise taxes in the future... You do have to remember that eventually you'll have to pay back your debt. So it's really about transferring resources over time, and that's a choice that policymakers have to [face]."