Arthur Laffer

Business & Economics

By Killing Off Ride-Sharing, Austin Puts It In Reverse

“Keep Austin Weird” is a slogan dreamed up by the Texas city’s independent business alliance to promote local businesses and to keep national corporations out of the city. By recently regulating ride-sharing companies out of business, Austin became more than just weird — it’s now perfectly unique. The supposed tech ...
Agriculture

CAPITAL IDEAS: Market-Driven Solutions to Relieve Drought

This legislative session, California could take an important step toward creating a true water market to meet the needs of cities, farmers and the environment with the Open and Transparent Water Data Act (Assembly Bill 1755). It’s hard to solve a problem when we don’t have all the facts and ...
Agriculture

CAPITAL IDEAS: Water Markets Would Alleviate Shortages

We’ve all read the daily stories highlighting the drought’s impact on California’s economy and environment. Wells have run dry, forcing some Central Valley communities to shower in church parking lots. Farmers are fallowing land. In many areas of the state, over-pumping groundwater is causing the ground to sink. Read Report
Business & Economics

Devaluation in a Free Trade World

A prosperous economy is created via good economic policy and then getting out of the way to let America’s amazing companies and citizens work, produce and invest. The perfect pro-growth agenda includes: a low rate flat tax, spending restraint, sound money, minimal regulation, and free trade. While bipartisan movement on ...
Business & Economics

The U.S. Corporate Tax Code: Ripe for Bipartisan Reform

The U.S. corporate tax code is ripe for bipartisan reform—the U.S. has the highest corporate tax rate of any OECD country but collects some of the lowest federal corporate tax revenues as a share of GDP. A low-rate flat tax on the broad base of business value added, with minimal ...
Business & Economics

California drives away businesses, tax receipts

Flaresun Fire Group is an innovative start-up that makes equipment designed to help first responders rescue people trapped underground or down steep embankments. Flaresun is also notable because it’s one of the latest companies to flee California thanks to the Golden State’s punitive corporate tax rates. Between 1992 and 2008, ...
Business & Economics

Corporate Laffer Curve: Column

A corporate tax cut would produce higher revenues for Dems and lower rates for GOP. Democrats and Republicans in Washington are at loggerheads over what to do about the deficit, the national debt, and the automatic spending cuts, which took effect last week. Those on the left seek a hike ...
Business & Economics

High taxes push people out of California

On Election Day, California’s voters approved Prop. 30 by a margin of more than 700,000 votes. Championed by Gov. Jerry Brown, this ballot initiative will ratchet up income and sales tax rates over the next few years. It’s expected to pull in some $6 billion in new funding for public ...
Business & Economics

Corporate Income Tax Elasticity: How Republicans Can Have Lower Tax Rates and Democrats Can Collect More Tax Revenue!

When the government increases tax rates, it assumes that it will collect more tax revenue dollars. Generally, this is the case. But there may well be an important exception that occurs because of the elasticity of taxation. Despite the presence of many contaminating variables, a persistent pattern is present in ...
Business & Economics

To cut state prison budget, start with perks for guards

California’s voters will soon consider two ballot initiatives that aim to reduce the state’s unsustainable spending on prisons. The cost of jail is punishing – and not just for the prisoners. Incarcerating an inmate runs an average of $47,000 a year. That figure certainly is not chump change, but the ...
Business & Economics

By Killing Off Ride-Sharing, Austin Puts It In Reverse

“Keep Austin Weird” is a slogan dreamed up by the Texas city’s independent business alliance to promote local businesses and to keep national corporations out of the city. By recently regulating ride-sharing companies out of business, Austin became more than just weird — it’s now perfectly unique. The supposed tech ...
Agriculture

CAPITAL IDEAS: Market-Driven Solutions to Relieve Drought

This legislative session, California could take an important step toward creating a true water market to meet the needs of cities, farmers and the environment with the Open and Transparent Water Data Act (Assembly Bill 1755). It’s hard to solve a problem when we don’t have all the facts and ...
Agriculture

CAPITAL IDEAS: Water Markets Would Alleviate Shortages

We’ve all read the daily stories highlighting the drought’s impact on California’s economy and environment. Wells have run dry, forcing some Central Valley communities to shower in church parking lots. Farmers are fallowing land. In many areas of the state, over-pumping groundwater is causing the ground to sink. Read Report
Business & Economics

Devaluation in a Free Trade World

A prosperous economy is created via good economic policy and then getting out of the way to let America’s amazing companies and citizens work, produce and invest. The perfect pro-growth agenda includes: a low rate flat tax, spending restraint, sound money, minimal regulation, and free trade. While bipartisan movement on ...
Business & Economics

The U.S. Corporate Tax Code: Ripe for Bipartisan Reform

The U.S. corporate tax code is ripe for bipartisan reform—the U.S. has the highest corporate tax rate of any OECD country but collects some of the lowest federal corporate tax revenues as a share of GDP. A low-rate flat tax on the broad base of business value added, with minimal ...
Business & Economics

California drives away businesses, tax receipts

Flaresun Fire Group is an innovative start-up that makes equipment designed to help first responders rescue people trapped underground or down steep embankments. Flaresun is also notable because it’s one of the latest companies to flee California thanks to the Golden State’s punitive corporate tax rates. Between 1992 and 2008, ...
Business & Economics

Corporate Laffer Curve: Column

A corporate tax cut would produce higher revenues for Dems and lower rates for GOP. Democrats and Republicans in Washington are at loggerheads over what to do about the deficit, the national debt, and the automatic spending cuts, which took effect last week. Those on the left seek a hike ...
Business & Economics

High taxes push people out of California

On Election Day, California’s voters approved Prop. 30 by a margin of more than 700,000 votes. Championed by Gov. Jerry Brown, this ballot initiative will ratchet up income and sales tax rates over the next few years. It’s expected to pull in some $6 billion in new funding for public ...
Business & Economics

Corporate Income Tax Elasticity: How Republicans Can Have Lower Tax Rates and Democrats Can Collect More Tax Revenue!

When the government increases tax rates, it assumes that it will collect more tax revenue dollars. Generally, this is the case. But there may well be an important exception that occurs because of the elasticity of taxation. Despite the presence of many contaminating variables, a persistent pattern is present in ...
Business & Economics

To cut state prison budget, start with perks for guards

California’s voters will soon consider two ballot initiatives that aim to reduce the state’s unsustainable spending on prisons. The cost of jail is punishing – and not just for the prisoners. Incarcerating an inmate runs an average of $47,000 a year. That figure certainly is not chump change, but the ...
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