Dr Art Laffer explains the Laffer Curve

A lesson for all socialists which if they understood it….

I’m one of the Scots in the quoted article. The personal tax year runs April-April, it’s July and I have already downed tools for 2026-2027 because there’s no point working any further due to the Scottish tax rates and thresholds. I’m sitting on my hands & chilling at the beach.

I can still remember the day in the 1985 aged 14 I learnt this in O level business studies. It was the day I became a Tory. Don’t listen to socialists who claim this doesn’t work. It’s been proven all over the world time and time again. They lie and say it’s discredited but can’t answer why and how. Not can they disprove the evidence which can be seen in hiders of examples. They simply can’t accept that you can’t tax your way to success.

The peak of the laffer curve is not an ideal tax target, it is a political greed indicator. Only incompetent idiot politicians pass it. We should be able to happily sit much further down the curve.

@iainpdooley "There are two tax rates to give the same amount of revenue." 😲 I've never seen the theory explained quite so clearly and succinctly before. And I've only ever been aware of that top half of the curve. Probably because that's the only area where UK political economics operates.

Fuck me not the Laffer curve again. That shit was discredited about 2000 years ago.

Raise tax rates = disincentive (for those who do work) to work any harder for little or no gain. Lower tax rates = incentive (for those who do work) to work harder to keep more of what they earn. Enlightened self-interest.

Strange, never seen it presented like that, tax rate has always been along the horizontal axis.

According to reports the illustrious be kind Scottish Parliament thought it was a curve of laughter.

Love it when someone has the ability to explain a concept succinctly. incidentally, the German for doctor is Artz. He's effectively called doctor doctor....can't you see I'm buring, burning? 😄

@DrCKRobinson If I recall Rachel’s 2024 budget..lies🤬 "I'm not coming back with more borrowing or more taxes. And that is why at this budget, we did wipe the slate clean to put public finances and public services on a firm footing," she told attendees at the (CBI) conference.

#Laffernomics “Arizona, Louisiana, New Mexico, Ohio, Oklahoma and Rhode Island all cut personal income taxes between 2001 and 2007, but research found no consistent evidence that these cuts produced superior economic performance…”

The system produced more tax from higher earners

Scotland raised the higher rate of income tax and in the first year income tax receipts from higher rate payers increased by £193m. How does this prove Laffer right exactly?

This government has the ability to inflict suffering on you and your family by taxation You have the ability to deny them any benefit You know what you must do

Yes. I’ve met him a few times. It’s a great beermat idea. No matter the situation he always says we should cut taxes to increase revenue.

All politicians should be made to watch that short video.

It’s not rocket science

Tell that to the US and Europe who rebuilt after WWII with top nominal tax rate of >90%! It’s such a baseless argument: I won’t bother doing something that’ll (let’s say using a 2% wealth tax on >£1m) net me £980k because I wanted the full £1m You’re still £980k better off!!!

Horseshit

I love this. Is that weird?

@_TheGMan I’ve always drawn it with revenue on the y-axis. Oops!

Making this argument proves you don't understand economics Just that you repeat retorts and single arguments You might not believe it but the mass majority just want basic living standards

I believe the Government does understand the Laffer Curve and they want the public to use their savings (£1+ trillion), cash-in their pension funds and sell assets. They'll drop tax in a fanfare once they've bled everyone of cash & assets etc

Billionaires: Invent a theory so that we get to pay lower taxes. It doesn’t need to bear an relation to reality. Art Laffer: OK.

@ChrisFalconer16 Can someone tag everyone in Edinburgh

Now explain that to Labour.

So 50% income tax is the optimum, which means a 2% wealth tax on billionaires as they don’t draw income and hoard their profits in holding companies. Thanks Dr Laffer.

Ping @DHughesy

In Scotland's case, the SNP don't want economic activity. Economic inactivity means a larger percentage of people beholden to the government in salary, pensions and benefits and therefore more tendency to vote with the governing party and it's 'green' backers.

So what are the reasons for taxes then?