Cain's 9-9-9 the Cure for a Convoluted Tax Code

Herman Cain’s 9-9-9 plan has come under a lot of fire, but Arthur Laffer, of the Laffer Center for Supply Side Economics, thinks it will “right the wrongs of our federal tax code.” These days we’re mired in “ever-more arcane tax codes” that seek not just to raise revenues but to redistribute income and encourage and discourage various industries and behaviors, he writes in the Wall Street Journal. “The whole purpose of a flat tax, a la 9-9-9, is to lower marginal tax rates and simplify our tax code.”

With marginal rates down, Laffer thinks “both the demand for and the supply of labor and capital will increase. Output will soar, as will jobs.” Tax revenues will ultimately increase, thanks to all that economic growth. Individuals and businesses could spend less hiring lawyers and accountants to navigate tax law, and will thus actually pay their taxes instead of ducking them. “Some tax revenues at low rates is a heckuva lot better than no tax revenue at high tax rates.” (More Herman Cain stories.)