FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
For a PDF version of the Economists’ Statement, click here.
Contact: Nan Gibson (202) 331-5546 · Tom Kiley (202) 331-5540
PRESS RELEASE
OVER 100 PROMINENT ECONOMISTS OPPOSE BUSH TAX PLAN, CALL FOR IMMEDIATE ECONOMIC STIMULUS
8 Nobel Prize Winners Among Signers of Economists’ Statement
Washington, D.C. – Over 100 prominent economists, including eight Nobel laureates in economics, representing diverse views on economic issues, have endorsed a statement opposing the large tax cuts proposed by President Bush, and have instead called for a one-time tax cut, or “dividend,” to boost the economy.
The statement released today was circulated to economists by Eileen Appelbaum, research director at the Economic Policy Institute, and Richard Freeman, professor of economics at Harvard University. They first proposed an immediate stimulus, in the form of a dividend, in an opinion piece for The New York Times on February 1.
The economists’ statement cautions that the Bush tax cut plan “is too large, too skewed to the wealthy, and arrives too late to head off a recession.”
By opting instead for a one-time tax cut, where every American would receive a sizeable check from the government, the President and members of Congress could get the economy back on track without risking huge deficits and significant cuts in vital programs, like Social Security, Medicare, and public education.
“There is bipartisan agreement that the economy is faltering and needs a stimulus,” says Appelbaum. “Democrats and Republicans in Congress should take advantage of that consensus to act. By quickly getting money into the hands of people who will spend it, we may help to prevent a recession.”
The eight Nobel laureates who signed the statement are Kenneth Arrow and William Sharpe of Stanford University, Lawrence Klein of the University of Pennsylvania, Daniel McFadden of the University of California, Douglass North of Washington University, Paul Samuelson and Robert Solow of MIT, and James Tobin of Yale University.
The full statement and list of signers can be downloaded here [pdf format].
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For a PDF version of the Economists’ Statement, click here.