O mito de Laffer



A teoria:

The Laffer Curve is aptly named after Professor Art Laffer. He was an advisor to President Reagan in the early 1980s, but, despite that, he has become quite well known through his 'curve'! He suggested that, as taxes increased from fairly low levels, tax revenue received by the government would also increase. However, as tax rates rose, there would come a point where people would not regard it as worth working so hard. This lack of incentives would lead to a fall in income and therefore a fall in tax revenue. The logical end-point is with tax rates at 100% where no one would bother to work (understandably!) and so tax revenue would become zero.

Tudo bem. Tem toda a lógica.

O mito:

A good example is the myth that Ronald Reagan and supply-side economists claimed the 1981 tax cut would lose no revenue. Based on the "Laffer Curve," they are said to have asserted higher economic growth would raise more revenue at lower tax rates.
In fact, every official estimate made by the Reagan Administration, in the budget and elsewhere, showed large revenue losses associated with the 1981 tax cut. Furthermore, these estimates were comparable to those made by independent agencies such as the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), which predicted federal revenues of $769 billion in 1984, after the tax cut, whereas the Reagan Administration predicted $771 billion. (Bruce Bartlett)

O lado da curva de Laffer em que estamos (esquerdo/direito) não deve depender de considerações políticas.