Americans who’ve been swept up in the anti-business, anti-capitalism wave that now masquerades as economic policy in this country should read Geoff Colvin’s column in the July 6 issue of Fortune. The headline is potent and 100% correct:
Business Gets Taxed, Workers Get Hurt
Unfortunately I’m not able to find an online link to Mr. Colvin’s piece so I will simply give you the first and last paragraphs. Both reveal why the effort to demonize business is nothing more than political grandstanding that comes with serious, long-term repercussions.
Mr. Colvin begins this way:
Sometimes what’s politically irresistible is economically nonsensical, as we may soon be reminded. The Obama administration, desperate for revenue and spotting an easy target, is proposing three hefty tax increases on busines. If the administration gets its way, the result will be bad news for all Americans.
And then Mr. Colvin ends his piece with this stark truth:
Research has shown that when business taxes are raised by a dollar, 70 cents to 92 cents of it comes out of employees’ pay. When workers wake up to that fact, they may decide this is one time they don’t want the White House beating up on business.
Tax policy may not be sexy, but how it is structured has serious implications. For example, JLF’s Roy Cordato explains in this interview why proposals to hike the income tax on our state’s high earners is so counterproductive.
