Post by jgaffney on Aug 2, 2011 16:41:52 GMT -5
The latest rejoinder that is making the rounds of the progressive websites is that tax cuts do not create jobs. Most of the bloggers hang their hats on an article from the WashPost by Neil Irwin, "Aughts were a lost decade for US economy, workers." Mr. Irwin presents a convincing bar chart that supposedly shows zero job growth during the period from 1/1/2000 to 11/31/2009:
The bar chart clearly shows zero net job creation during the period, which the author tries to turn into an indictment of tax cuts and their effects on the economy.
However, a little further down in the article, the author presents this line graph that shows job growth by year during each of the decades:
OK, here we have some real data, not the aggregation presented in the bar chart.
For those of you who can recall 11 years ago, the first Bush tax cut was passed in 2002, and the second in 2003. It takes about a year for the effects of tax legislation to show up in the economy. And, behold, if you look at the line chart, you will see an upward trend in job creation starting in mid-2004. Jobs continued to grow until mid-2008, when the subprime mortgage meltdown took the economy over the cliff, wiping out all of the job growth that resulted from the Bush tax cuts. You can also see the explosive job growth in the 1980s, which resulted from the Reagan tax cuts.
So, other than that, the author makes a convincing point: "There are lies, damned lies, and then there are statistics!" Or, as another sage once said, "Everyone is entitled to their opinion but not their own facts." (Daniel Patrick Moynihan)
The bar chart clearly shows zero net job creation during the period, which the author tries to turn into an indictment of tax cuts and their effects on the economy.
However, a little further down in the article, the author presents this line graph that shows job growth by year during each of the decades:
OK, here we have some real data, not the aggregation presented in the bar chart.
For those of you who can recall 11 years ago, the first Bush tax cut was passed in 2002, and the second in 2003. It takes about a year for the effects of tax legislation to show up in the economy. And, behold, if you look at the line chart, you will see an upward trend in job creation starting in mid-2004. Jobs continued to grow until mid-2008, when the subprime mortgage meltdown took the economy over the cliff, wiping out all of the job growth that resulted from the Bush tax cuts. You can also see the explosive job growth in the 1980s, which resulted from the Reagan tax cuts.
So, other than that, the author makes a convincing point: "There are lies, damned lies, and then there are statistics!" Or, as another sage once said, "Everyone is entitled to their opinion but not their own facts." (Daniel Patrick Moynihan)
