The Politics of Bad Ideas

The Great Tax Cut Delusion and the Decline of Good Government in America

Bryan Jones, Walter Williams

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2021
• eBook ISBN: 9781317343035
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Economics
• Subtopic: Public Finance
• Index: Economics

This highly anticipated addition to the "Great Questions in Politics" series offers a provocative argument about the persistence of bad ideas in shaping American economic policy. The result of a collaboration between political scientist Bryan D. Jones and economist Walter Williams, The Politics of Bad Ideas is indispensable reading for any study of American government, public policy, or economic and budgetary analysis. The Politics of Bad Ideas examines why, over the last quarter century, bad economic ideas -- such as cutting taxes without cutting spending -- have become so influential in shaping government policies. Using in-depth research and trenchant political and economic analysis, the book explores why those bad ideas continue to survive despite overwhelming evidence that they in fact cause damage to the federal government's long-term fiscal stability and the American economy.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• Preface
• Chapter 1 The Politics of Bad Ideas
• Chapter 2 The Tax Cut Theories
• Chapter 3 Evaluating the Claims
• Chapter 4 Budgetary Politics and the Spending Mind-Set
• Chapter 5 Institutions, Rules, and Politics
• Chapter 6 Big Government Republicanism Costs Money
• Chapter 7 Politics, Economics, and Tax Theories
• Chapter 8 The Impacts of Recent Fiscal Policies on America
• Chapter 9 The Rise and Decline of Reality-Based Policymaking in the Federal Government, 1945-2007
• Chapter 10 The Role of Institutions
• Chapter 11 Why Do Bad Ideas Persist?
• Chapter 12 Escaping the Dead Weight of Bad Ideas
• Appendix More Detailed Analyses of Results Presented in Chapter 3
• Index