Sanders Hears the Plight of Workers, but His Amazon Bill is Misguided | Op-Eds & Columns | CEPR
▻http://cepr.net/publications/op-eds-columns/sanders-hears-the-plight-of-workers-but-his-amazon-bill-is-misguided
“Pay-go” rules — rules that say new programs need to be paid for with tax hikes or cuts in other programs — prevented Democrats the last time they were the majority party in Congress from implementing policies to help workers and communities devastated by the offshoring of manufacturing or the collapse of the housing bubble regain their economic footing.
They should not once again buy into the false #narrative that taxes need to be raised before government can spend. There are limits to spending on programs, of course, but these are not set by tax revenue. They are set instead by available resources — workers, equipment, natural resources that can be put to work.
When resources are fully employed, further attempts by companies to expand production or government to expand programs will translate into inflation rather than higher GDP.
At that point, tax increases to reduce demand and bring spending in line with resource capabilities are in order. Rolling back Trump administration tax cuts that benefit the wealthiest would be a good place to start.