100 Economics Question of the Day: An Intermittent Blog: Cluelessness at the New York Times

Friday, December 09, 2005

Cluelessness at the New York Times

The right course is clear: responsible senators should approve alternative minimum tax relief, but stand firm against machinations that would tart up the tax code with additional giveaways for the wealthiest Americans.

Examine this sentence in the context of census and FRED data. Estimate how many people will be marginally affected by the AMT this year. Approximate their income bracket.

Explain how "responsible" senators can approve this "relief" without "tart[ing] up the tax code with additional giveaways for the wealthiest Americans."

2 Comments:

Blogger Tom Bozzo said...

Well, that AMT incidence is concentrated in wealthier Americans makes it an improvement upon policies targeting the wealthiest.

But, scuttling the whole tax package wouldn't be such a terrible thing.

14 December, 2005 14:46  
Blogger Ken Houghton said...

There is that, to be certain. But I admit more than a bit of sympathy with this declaration at MaxSpeak.

Either not "fixing" the AMT or not "extending" the Cap Gains tax cut will cost me more in the near term. But either will also be that much less Federal deficit, so at least my daughters will have a chance to thrive, instead of just survive.

14 December, 2005 21:06  

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