I know who Bush will pick to replace Greenspan

[jmowreader]

George W. Bush believes tax cutting is the Holy Grail that will supercharge the economy, create brazillions of jobs and make everyone rich while simultaneously ending the deficit and solving the problems of poverty and war.

Or something like that.

If you were to peel off Bush's ill-fitting $3500 suit, his ill-fitting $250 shirt and his ill-fitting bulletproof vest, you'd probably find the Laffer Curve tattooed onto his bony chest.

Which is why there's only one name Bush will look at when the time comes to nominate a replacement for Alan Greenspan: Arthur Laffer.

Arthur Laffer is the economist who, according to legend, drew the "Laffer Curve," which attempts to tie tax rates to tax revenues, on a napkin in a restaurant. (Laffer himself says he didn't draw it on a napkin because the restaurant used cloth napkins.) This curve was used by Ronald Reagan to justify Reaganomics, and we all know how well that turned out.

Because Bush uses the Laffer playbook word-for-word, there's no reason to believe that he wouldn't hire Arthur Laffer.

[Deja Q]

1. The people are led to believe that reagan was a saint...

Which is why they keep voting repuke.

May they live in interesting times. Along with the rest of us. :(

[noahmijo]

2. He'll pick Pat Sajeck from Wheel of Fortune

He'll have Americans everywhere spinning for their social security entitlements!!

[MissMarple]

3. Well, Laffer may have made a small point, a very small point.

There is a relationship between taxes and tax revenues. But it is nothing to base an entire tax policy on. Cutting taxes beyond a certain point also dries up revenues, and increasing taxes MIGHT reduce the propensity to produce and thus diminish tax revenue. But taxes were high in the 50's and 60's for the wealthy, and they still stayed wealthy.

Reaganomics used Laffer's curve as a rationale, but, I don't think even the Reaganites believed it. I'm not an economist, and it's pretty easy to see right through their "reasoning".

[SteppingRazor]

4. Laffer also argued that our ballooning trade deficit...

is a sign of our strong economy. Seriously. It was in the WSJ earlier this year. How could someone so brilliant be so dumb?

[Inland]

5. Personal investment guy on radio is WORRIED

that Bush will appoint someone who will "monetize" the inflationary fiscal policy with loose money.

But forget Laffer. Laffer was a fiscal policy moment twenty five years ago. The idiocy that lower taxes means more revenue has become an article of faith than even someone like O'Reilly can repeat without knowing the source.

[bullimiami]

6. Some crony even more twisted, criminal and insensitive to the lives and

economics of the less than elite.

greenspan is a real bastard, he will be hard to top but bushco will do it.

[patricia92243]

7. I think a teller at the bank he used before he became Prez is a crony of

his. She will make the PERFECT person to follow Greenspan. After all, she does handle money. :sarcasm:

[snippy]

8. Well, he picked his "cleaning lady" for the Supreme Court so he probably

will want to pick someone who was involved in laundering his personal and financial shenanigans, such as his insider trading in Harken to name just one. However, Wall Street will be seriously pissed off if Bush tries to put one of his unqualified cronies in Greenspan's position. For that reason, Bush probably will not be allowed to make the selection himself.

[hyphenate]

9. Actually

I thought it might be his personal accountant. :)

[Hope springs eternal]

10. I know who it will be

Kenneth Lay.

[indepat]

11. Always have thought of Laffer as a lafferingstock

[jmowreader]

12. And what do you think of Bush?

Probably the same thing. The reality is that Bush does bizarre, unexplainable shit just because he can...and the installation of Arthur Laffer, the economist from Fantasyland, would be as bizarre and unexplainable as...oh, nominating the lawyer who scrubbed his TANG file to the Supreme Court.