by Mike Kimel The Data Shows that State “Beggar Thy Neighbor” Policies Don’t Work.Cross posted at the Presimetrics blog. Many states seem to believe a “beggar thy neighbor” approach to taxes works best. That is, the state with the lowest taxes will “steal” business from other states and produce the fastest economic growth. A lot […]

by Mike Kimel The Tax Rate that Maximizes Economic Growth, Part 3… With Gov’t Spending, Money Supply and DemographicsCross posted at the Presimetrics blog. Today I will build a model that explains over three quarters of the annual movement in real GDP between 1929 and the present. The model depends on marginal tax rates, government […]

by Mike Kimel The Tax Rate that Maximizes Economic Growth, Part 2… With Tax Burdens Too!Cross posted at the Presimetrics blog. This post continues my look at the relationship between taxes and growth (what I modestly called the “Kimel curve”), which I will continue expanding on over a series of posts. Today I want to […]

by Mike Kimel Top Marginal Income Tax Rates & Real Economic Growth, a Bar ChartCross posted at the Presimetrics blog. The chart below shows tax rates on one axis and the growth rates in real GDP that accompanied those tax rates on the other: I broke the tax ranges into 5 percentage point increments centered […]

by Mike Kimel Cross posted at the Presimetrics blog. To maximize real economic growth in the United States, the top marginal income tax rate should be about 65%, give or take about ten percent. Preposterous, right? Well, it turns out that’s what the data tells us, or would, if we had the ears to listen. […]

by Mike Kimel A Simple Explanation for a Strange Paradox: Why the US Economy Grew Faster When Tax Rates Were High, and Grew Slower When Tax Rates Were LowCross posted at the Presimetrics blog. If you are familiar with my writing, you know that for years I have been covering the proverbial non-barking dog: the […]

by Mike Kimel An Economic Theory That Uses Micro Forces to Explain Macro Outcomes: Why the Economy Stubbornly Insists on Growing More Slowly When Taxes are Lower Cross-posted at the Presimetrics blog. I’ve been writing for years about the fact that a basic piece of economic theory does not apply to real world US data: […]

by Mike Kimel Cross posted at the Presimetrics blog. I guess when you’re a very not famous (co-)author like yours truly, people start contacting you with information about their books. I got an e-mail today from another currently very not famous author plugging his book, and I found it to be an interesting concept. The […]

by Mike Kimel Hauser’s Law is Extremely MisleadingCross posted at the Presimetrics blog. A friend sent me a link to this Wall Street Journal opinion piece by W. Kurt Hauser. Who is he, you ask? Here’s what it says at the bottom of the article: Mr. Hauser is chairman emeritus of the Hoover Institution at […]

by Mike Kimel A Proposed Bet for Professors Bryan Caplan and David R. Henderson (and Anyone Else Who Believes Lower Taxes Generate Faster Economic Growth)Cross posted at the Presimetrics blog. Professors Caplan and Henderson, Both of you have had recent posts that indicate you have some enthusiasm for betting on economic outcomes. (Your co-blogger at […]