Monday, February 10, 2003
I like the idea, but not keen on the timing
WASHINGTON—President Bush, having already set off a firestorm over his proposals to cut taxes and revamp retirement accounts, suggested on Friday that the time might be near to drop the income tax and replace it with some form of consumption tax.
Via InstaPundit, Bush ponders radical move to consumption tax
I like the idea, since I'm not one that spends a lot of money, although I'm afraid that this will be a severe wake-up call to those that live off credit. Then again, maybe not—without an income tax you'll have more money to spend and we are a society that likes to spend. But on the other hand, this may give incentive to people to save and the economists don't like that at all—it doesn't provide much stimulus to the economy as more people save and purchasing slows up.
Much more likely is we'll get yet another round of unintended consequences that with 20/20 hindsight seem perfectly obvious. Such as high home prices in an uncertain state this may cause the economy to tank further, despite what Bush is hoping for.
