Republican Tax Plan Takes Us Back To 20th Century

Much of the debate about the GOP tax plan is about the maldistribution of the tax cuts and the choices made to pay for the tax cuts by the elimination of deductions that are harmful to middle income families.  Those criticisms are warranted.  This critique of the tax plan, however, takes aim at the effort to modernize the business tax.  Everyone agrees that the changes need to made in the business tax.  Instead of modernizing the business tax it takes us back to the good old days before globalization and the growth of the digital economy.  In their rush to get a tax plan passed prior to the 2018 elections they have cobbled together a plan that achieves few of its economic objectives.  Instead of making US corporations more competitive in the global economy, it will make them and the US economy less competitive.  Tax policies are complex and it is difficult to make changes without producing unintended consequences.  The rush to pass a bill for political reasons is full of unintended consequences which are well described in this article.  This is what happens when members of Congress are focused on the next election and the appeals of lobbyists.  It is a plan without a vision of future.