This post is actually about 45's proposed tax code changes. I'll explain the title in a little bit.
I started this morning listening to Michael Krasny and his guests on KQED Forum discussing the "largest tax overhaul in decades." I listened for several minutes to Chris Edwards of the Cato Institute spouting every Republican talking point I've been listening to since the early 1980s about the way tax cuts will free up capital and spur growth and lots of American jobs.
This is bullshit. Living through the last 4 decades, I've seen the country grow when taxes were up and slump when taxes were down. Over my lifetime, the most prosperous period in our history was the late 50s and early 60s, when the top individual tax rate was 90%. Mr. Bruce Bartlett, who worked on the Reagan tax code reform with Jack Kemp in the early 80s, has just written a thorough and detailed explanation, in the Washington Post, of why the Republican "line" is ridiculous, doesn't work, and never has worked. I recommend the article to the interested.
Based on my own life experience, though, I believe there are other reasons lowering taxes will not lead to investment, new jobs, and growth. Here's where the title comes in. I heard that comment, from a senior executive of Bank of America, in the early oughts, shortly after the merger with Nationsbank. The executive was from Charlotte, part of "new management." I don't recall his name.
