The Wall Street Journal Editorial Page Is More of a Joke than Ever (Why Oh Why Can't We Have a Better Press Corps? Department)
kevin Drum reports:
The Washington Monthly: SUPPLY SIDE BUFFOONERY.... [I]t's Stephen Moore's maiden outing as a member of the WSJ editorial board. A friend emailed to tell me that 'knowing how much you enjoy shooting fish in a barrel,' I should take a look. He was right! Moore's sermon today is about the wonders of supply side economics:
In the 1980s, President Ronald Reagan chopped the highest personal income tax rate from the confiscatory 70% rate that he inherited when he entered office to 28% when he left office and the resulting economic burst caused federal tax receipts to almost precisely double: from $517 billion to $1,032 billion.
Tax revenue doubled!... [But f]irst, we should adjust for inflation.... In 1980 dollars, $1,032 billion is actually $670 billion.... [P]opulation increased... tax revenue was $2,283 per person in 1980 and $2,694 per person in 1990. That's not double. It's an increase of 18%... a lot of that is due to consistent tax increases throughout the 1980s (details here).... [W]e can play this game with any decade.... Adjusting for inflation and population growth... [70S] 70s produced an increase... OF 25%. The Clinton 90s produced... 40%.... Reagan produced the slowest growth in... any decade since World War II. That's a real supply side triumph.
Welcome to the Journal, Steve. You guys deserve each other