Budges and Taxes

Closing budget deficits is not always the optimal fiscal policy in the short term  or the medium term. Instead, budgets should simply be seen as a tool with which to boost living standards. Sometimes policy needs to move the budget toward a deficit to achieve this; at other times, the budget needs to be moved closer to a balance or surplus.

Reducing budget deficits is too often presented as a key budgetary challenge. Defining fiscal policy this way in the present economic environment, however, is simply bad economic analysis. Instead, the most pressing economic task should be viewed as finally securing a durable return to genuine full employment.

Publications

A “Lost Decade”: Revisiting Kansas’ past, so we can redirect its future

  • February 1, 2013
  • Staff Report

Claims that Kansas’ failed tax-cut experiment was justified as a response to a “lost decade” for the state’s economy aren’t borne out by what actually happened at that time. If anything, there is strong evidence that Kansas’ economic situation is worsening since the tax cuts began to weaken the state’s ability to make public investments in schools and other drivers of job growth and widespread prosperity.

The Cost of Admission: Higher Education in Kansas

  • February 1, 2013
  • Staff Report

After years of declining state investment in higher education due to failed tax policy, Kansas college students incur higher debt and reduced economic prospects.

In the past, college was the ticket to a bright future. Each year of education after high school increases earning potential and opens the door to more stable, rewarding careers. Furthermore, education
beyond high school increases opportunity and cultivates a skilled workforce vital to a thriving Kansas economy, making the state more attractive to businesses and families.