Following Blind Ideology Off the Fiscal Cliff

In the wake of the last-minute “fiscal cliff” deal reached by Congress at the start of the year, Professor of Economics Richard Grossman examines in an op-ed in The Hartford Courant  how we got into this mess. Though reasonable people may disagree over what top marginal tax rate is ideal for the economy, he writes, the stubborn resistance of Congressional Republicans to any tax increases is the product of ideology, not reason. Looking back over history, the “abdication of sound economic reasoning in favor of ideology” has resulted in numerous policy mistakes with long-lasting economic impacts.