200 Economists Urge Tax Cuts Instead of Stimulus Spending

The Cato Institute has a full-page letter in the New York Times today signed by 200 economists, regarding assertions by President Obama and Vice-President Biden that “all economists” support the spending stimulus proposals put forth by the Administration:

Notwithstanding reports that all economists are now Keynesians and that we all support a big increase in the burden of government, we the undersigned do not believe that more government spending is a way to improve economic performance.

More government spending by Hoover and Roosevelt did not pull the United States economy out of the Great Depression in the 1930s. More government spending did not solve Japan’s “lost decade” in the 1990s. As such, it is a triumph of hope over experience to believe that more government spending will help the U.S. today. To improve the economy, policymakers should focus on reforms that remove impediments to work, saving, investment and production. Lower tax rates and a reduction in the burden of government are the best ways of using fiscal policy to boost growth.

Check it out here.