Monday, February 27, 2017
Manhire: Unknowable Unknowns Of Tax Reform — Wicked Systems, Cloud Seeding, And The Border Adjustment Tax
Jack Manhire (Texas A&M), Unknowable Unknowns of Tax Reform: Wicked Systems, Cloud Seeding, and the Border Adjustment Tax:
This brief comment explores just one of the "unknowable unknowns" concerning the border-adjustment tax proposal in the House Republican Blueprint.
The implication is that there are most likely numerous lurking unknowable unknowns and tax policy makers should be cautious in relying on future linear economic projections in order to fund (or even justify) current tax reform measures.
https://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2017/02/manhireunknowable-unknowns-of-tax-reform-wicked-systems-cloud-seeding-and-the-border-adjustment-tax.html
Comments
Great article. Major tax bills always produce winners and losers, moreover the unintended consequences can be huge. I know, I was in real estate in 1986. The Reagan tax bill didn't cause the collapse of the commercial real estate market, which killed S&Ls and triggered the RTC bailout, but is sure was a hard one-two punch.
I also love the "wicked systems" and "cloud seeding" metaphors. It's too bad our tax system has become a chaotic system.
Posted by: Dale Spradling | Feb 28, 2017 7:19:24 AM
Many of the current unknowns are unknown precisely because Republicans want it that way. If they were to make their plans public, the tax community would be able to identify what's wrong with them before they could pass.
Posted by: Theodore Seto | Feb 28, 2017 12:45:41 AM