Do you think higher taxes hurt the economy?

Answer 1

Are you arguing the Laffer curve
at zero tax, there is zero govt revenue, and at 100% tax, there is zero govt revenue.
This is a fairly strong portion of supply side economics, that will argue that more $ in the economy (less taxes) allows for reinvestment and for consumption. This later spurred trickle down theory.

In my opinion there is little room for correct tax rates in this, however there is definatly some truth to it.

Answer 2

Without a doubt higher income taxes hurt the economy. Higher sales taxes only truly hurt if there are lower sales tax locations nearby. Higher income taxes hurt by stifling the desire to work harder and longer, since the worker knows that he or she will not receive as much.

Would you work an extra hour for $50? Most people probably would. Would you work the same hour for $30? Maybe, but maybe not. That is the difference taxation makes. Not only that, you know that for each additional dollar earned, you actually get to keep LESS of it.

A better system would be to ENCOURAGE working harder by making the tax rates lower on additional work. But the idea of rewarding hard work, rather than rewarding voting behavior, is foreign to politicians.

Answer 3

I love bjlevine's answer. I just want to distinguish between higher tax RATES (tax collected per dollar taxed) and tax REVENUE (total tax collected). Higher rates hurt the economy. An improved economy increases tax revenue.

Answer 4

Higher taxes hurt the economy. Just look what the higher price of gasoline and diesel is doing. Inflaction is coming back big time, housing is collapsing, we are staring at recession and when we go into a tailspin depression we can thank the oil companies for their greed and washington for sitting on its hands whistling Dixie.