I’m big on adjusting for inflation when measuring the purported positive revenue impact of tax cuts (which makes most of that purported positive impact disappear). But in his blog today, Paul Krugman (who’s, like, good at math and stuff) does me one better and adjusts for population growth:
[F]ederal revenues rose 80 percent in dollar terms from 1980 to 1988. And numbers like that (sometimes they play with the dates) are thrown around by Reagan hagiographers all the time.
But real revenues per capita grew only 19 percent over the same period — better than the likely Bush performance, but still nothing exciting. In fact, it’s less than revenue growth in the period 1972-1980 (24 percent) and much less than the amazing 41 percent gain from 1992 to 2000.
I should mention here, as one of those weenies who doesn’t really think Krugman’s column in the Times is so wonderful, that his blog–which he’s been writing for a couple of months now–is truly great. Really. It’s funny, it’s surprising, it’s educational. The blog format provides room for the contradiction and creativity and discursion that has long made Krugman’s writing so wonderful compelling–but is hard to fit into the confines of a 750-word column. It’s a must-read.