I tend to find it very hard to finish books. So rather than me using a bunch of nice adjectives for it, let me just say that I finished Jon Chait's book, The Big Con, on the rise of crackpot, rightwing, economics in two days. On the beach. It's a very, very good piece of work, and contains the clearest, most sustained demolition of supply-siderism I've encountered. It's also got a lot of very clear, quick writing on economics in general, including this quote-worthy bit on taxes:
You can look at the federal tax code as a kind of layer cake. At the bottom is the federal payroll tax, used to finance Social Security and Medicare. This tax is a flat rate and covers wage income only to around $100,000 a year, with all income above that level exempt. This is the most regressive tax imposed by Washington. Above the payroll tax sits the income tax. The income tax is more progressive, exempting low wage workers and making high earners pay a higher rate. On top of that are taxes on capital gains and dividends. These taxes are even more concentrated at the top, since they affect only those who receive lots of income from accumulated wealth. The most progressive tax of all is the estate tax, which is paid by a tiny handful of fabulously wealthy heirs.
Compare that layer cake to President Bush's policies. The tax at the bottom, the payroll tax, he has not touched at all. The tax just above that, the income tax, he sliced by about a tenth. The taxes just above that, the capital gains and dividends, he cut in half. And the tax at the very top, the estate tax, he abolished altogether (though he has not mustered enough votes to abolish it permanently). Bush's opposition to any given tax is exactly proportional to the degree that it affects the rich.
The book also has the world's most perfect description of Grover Norquist, about whom it says:
Norquist, like a Bond villain, has an irresistible penchant for spelling out his master plans in their full, nefarious detail.
It's almost impossible to accurately convey how true that is.
