Critics of North Carolina’s historic tax cuts in 2013 – and the years of subsequent tax cuts – warned that tax cuts would only benefit “the rich” and big corporations.
Such criticism, of course, was borne from an ignorance of economics and what makes an economy grow. A new report released by the NC Department of Commerce now shows that the tax cuts of the past dozen years helped to lift hundreds of thousands of North Carolinians out of poverty and reduce poverty at one of the fastest rates in the country.
“North Carolina’s poverty rate declined from 17.8% in 2013 to 12.8% in 2023, a decrease of five percentage points over the decade. The state’s progress ranks fifth nationwide in poverty reduction during this period.…
the long-term decline has brought North Carolina’s poverty rate closer to the national average of 12.5% in 2023. In 2013, the state’s poverty rate was two percentage points higher than the national rate (17.8% vs. 15.8%), but by 2023, the gap had narrowed to 0.3 percentage points.”
This reduction in poverty, according to the report, “represents roughly 360,000 fewer individuals below the poverty line.”
The best remedy to poverty is a growing economy. More job opportunities and higher wages result from increased productive investment – which are encouraged by lower tax rates.
The critics of tax cuts have for more than a decade wrongly warned us about massive budget shortfalls due to tax cuts, and now a new report confirms that they are wrong about tax cuts exclusively helping “the rich” and big corporations.
With such a poor track record, why should they be taken seriously?
