Bruce Bartlett on tax policy

Testimony before the senate budget committee, May 2023

Bruce Bartlett was formerly a prominent Republican economist deeply involved in tax policy; he is now an independent. For some years he has thought that Republicans are guilty of one-size-fits-all economics; reflexively proposing tax cuts as the all-purpose cure for whatever economic problem arises. While Bartlett believes that the 1981 tax cut, which he helped draft as a member of Rep. Jack Kemp’s staff in 1977, was appropriate for the time, circumstances have changed and different policies are needed. Bartlett believes that the tax cuts of the George W. Bush and Donald Trump administrations were ineffective, economically, and added considerably to the deficit and the debt. Since they had little positive economic effect, then logically there would be little negative effect from repealing them.