Were the Bush tax cuts good for the economy? President Bush's tax cuts have become a big issue in the presidential election. Two economists debate their effectiveness.

• Author: Mitchell, Daniel
• Position: Debate

YES President Bush's tax policies have improved the U.S. economy and helped make America more competitive in the global economy. By lowering tax rates on work, savings, investment, and entrepreneurship, the President has helped reinvigorate the stock market and create new jobs.

When you tax something, you get less of it. Indeed, this is why governments tax tobacco and alcohol--to discourage smoking and drinking. But it is foolish to impose high tax rates on productive behavior. We don't want to penalize people for inventing new products, building new factories, and employing more people. We don't want to punish people for working harder. This is why the President's tax rate reductions on income, dividends (profits distributed to shareholders), and capital gains (profits from the sale of assets like stocks and real estate) have helped boost growth.

This doesn't mean that tax policy is the only thing that determines economic performance, or that President Bush deserves high marks in all areas.

But international comparisons may provide the best positive evidence for the Bush tax cuts. The U.S. is growing much faster than most other industrialized nations. We certainly are outperforming Europe's welfare states. We create more jobs and offer more opportunity, partly because we do not have the class-warfare tax systems that have caused stagnation in places like France and Germany.

America is still the land of opportunity, and President Bush's tax cuts will keep that promise alive for future generations.

Daniel Mitchell

The Heritage Foundation

NO Nobody likes paying taxes, but most Americans care a lot about the things taxes pay for.

As a result of the tax cuts of the last three years, there is now a fundamental mismatch between the benefits Americans expect from the...