Why Tax Cuts Worked for Russia, But Not Kansas

Donald Trump may lose the presidential election, but the idea of major tax cuts as a way of boosting the economy is likely to remain a central tenet of Republican ideology long after he's gone. Opponents say that if you want to see why such programs don't work, you need look no further than Kansas, where the Republican governor, Sam Brownback, put in place radical tax cuts four years ago.

To a Russian visitor like me, though, that's not a persuasive narrative. The most effective economic initiative undertaken by President Vladimir Putin in his 16 years in power was to replace a progressive tax scale with a 30 percent top rate in favor of a 13 percent flat tax. Putin's 2001 tax reform saved the Russian budget from chronic underfunding and a woeful dependence on high-rate borrowing. Brownback told me that the experience of Russia and other Eastern European countries with low, flat taxes, contributed to his decision to try the same medicine in Kansas.