Higher Taxes for Whom?
Letter to the Editor
Alan D. Viard | New York Times
March 23, 2008
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Resident Scholar Alan D. Viard
Resident Scholar Alan D. Viard
Although Mr. Stein is right that tax increases will be part of the solution to the long-run fiscal imbalance, he misses the mark in recommending "much higher taxes on the truly rich."

While the wealthy have large amounts of disposable income, only limited revenue can be extracted from them without steep marginal tax rate increases that would depress saving and investment. The revenue-raising net must therefore be cast more widely. In addition to telling the American people that tax increases and entitlement cuts are coming, the next president needs to deliver an even less welcome message: Those measures will largely hit the middle class.

Alan D. Viard is a resident scholar at AEI.

About the Author

 

Alan D.
Viard
  • Alan Viard was a senior economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas and an assistant professor of economics at Ohio State University prior to joining AEI. He has also worked for the Treasury Department's Office of Tax Analysis, the White House's Council of Economic Advisers, and the Joint Committee on Taxation of the U.S. Congress. Mr. Viard is a frequent contributor to AEI's Tax Policy Outlook, AEI's On the Margin column in Tax Notes, and AEI's Marginal Impact column in State Tax Notes. In January 2010, he was named by Tax Notes as a nominee for 2009 Tax Person of the Year.
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    Email: aviard@aei.org

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