Before we get into a brawl over whose tax cut is better than whose, wouldn't it be wise to ask: Should we cut taxes at all? And if so, why?The president says we need the largest tax cut in American history to get the economy growing. But it is already growing at something like a 3.1 percent annual rate, and we won't know whether that's sustainable until the effects of the storms in Texas and Florida are played out and stop affecting the growth rates we will see in the next few quarters. And if this rate is sustainable, we will face the hard question of whether the economy is capable of growing much faster.Our 4.4 percent unemployment rate meets any reasonable person's definition of full employment. Anyone who thinks there is a large reserve army of the unemployed sitting out there waiting for job offers that would materialize if the economy grew even faster should talk to employers in almost any industry, who are complaining of labor shortages.
Read Full Article »