Reason For Doubt On Tax Reform

The Trump administration says its tax overhaul would spur economic growth. Jason Furman is skeptical.

For a document with such an outsized impact on the lives of all Americans, the 2,600 page United States tax code is remarkably arcane. But then again, for a country with an economy as large and diverse as the U.S., it’s hardly a surprise.

Conservatives have been calling for another overhaul to the tax code for years, and now it seems they finally have an opportunity to follow through. But, as always, the devil is in the details… and there are a lot of details.

In this episode of PolicyCast, HKS Professor Jason Furman, the former chairman of President Obama’s Council of Economic Advisors, digs into the details of the Trump administration’s tax proposals.

Among the issues Furman addresses:

• The four goals Furman would have for a tax code overhaul
• The importance of looking at the “whole package” of a tax reform proposal in assessing its overall impact
• How to approach simplifying the tax code
• Whether a corporate tax cut would boost workers’ wages
• Why a “tax holiday” to repatriate money held by foreign subsidiaries of U.S. corporations would be a bad idea
• Why tax cuts have to be revenue neutral to be effective
• Where he and US House Speaker Paul Ryan agree on tax reforms

Each week on PolicyCast, Host Matt Cadwallader (@mattcad) explores the ways individuals make democracy work by speaking with the world’s leading experts in public policy, media, and international affairs about their experiences confronting our most pressing public problems.