In his novel published in 1990, John Kenneth Galbraith (Yes, THE John Kenneth Galbraith) writes concerning the so called “Laffer Curve”, so embraced by Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush:
“The economic formulation of high personal importance to the Marvins held that when no taxes are levied, no revenue accrues to the government. An undoubted truth. And if taxes are so high that they absorb all income, nothing can be collected from the distraught, starving and otherwise nonfunctional citizenry. Also almost certainly true. Between those two points a freehand curve, engagingly unsupported by evidence, showed the point where higher taxes would mean less revenue. According to accepted legend, the original curve had been drawn on a paper napkins, possibly toilet paper, and some critics of deficient imagination held that the paper could have been better put to its intended use.”
WATCHDOG: Another wag of the tail.
