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POLICY INSIGHT
BEYOND THE NUMBERS

GOP Making Highly Unrealistic Claims for Wage Gains from Tax Cuts

In my latest post for US News & World Report’s Economic Intelligence, I discuss how Republicans’ claims that their tax cuts will give American workers a large pay raise don’t stand up to scrutiny. Here’s the gist:

President Donald Trump says Republican proposals to cut corporate taxes will give the average American household a $4,000 pay raise. That figure — which House Speaker Paul Ryan also highlighted . . . — comes from the President’s Council of Economic Advisers. Appropriately, however, tax policy experts have greeted that CEA finding with considerable skepticism, or worse.

… Republicans are following their same old script of tax cuts for the well-to-do that fuel budget deficits along with enthusiastic assertions that those tax cuts will unleash such strong economic growth that working families and the middle class also will benefit. In fact, most Americans would not see anything like the income gains that Republicans are promising, and many likely would be left worse off.

You can read the whole thing here.