The last Laff

Bruce Bartlett continues his Hamlet act, arguing that tax cuts do not "pay for themselves." (Actually, that's the piece title, not Bartlett's text.

I suppose that's true. The only tax revenue curve I know if is the Laffer curve, and, as Bartlett argues, it's perfectly plausible to believe that we are not at a point on the curve where the marginal gain from taxes exceeds the marginal cut. Whether anyone knows where we are on the curve, I doubt, but am open to persuasion.

In any case, the argument for tax cuts must also include (as Bartlett implies) arguments on other grounds: one, overall growth is higher as more money and choice is left to the private sector, which I suppose must mean that long term, revenues are indeed higher with tax cuts, so long as they do not reach some theoretical minimum.

Two, it's simply the moral thing to do. Let people do their own stuff. If you don't like the consequences, if you're squeamish and righteous, and you see someone who doesn't have enough money, give them yours.