Stephanie Kelton, Columnist

Trump and the Democrats Are Both Right About the Tax Cuts

Yes, the rich hit the jackpot. But most people got something, and it’s not clear they want to lose it.

October 29, 2018 at 12:00 PM UTC

Stephanie Kelton is a professor of public policy and economics at Stony Brook University. She was the Democrats' chief economist on the staff of the U.S. Senate Budget Committee and an economic adviser to the 2016 presidential campaign of Senator Bernie Sanders.

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Photographer: Thomas Trutschel/Photothek via Getty Images

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In my last column, I argued that Democrats are missing the point when they attack the Republicans’ tax cuts on the grounds that they failed to “pay for themselves” after all. My argument was, basically, who cares if the tax cuts add to the deficit, as long as they improve economic conditions without creating other problems?

I focused on inflation, which no credible agency expects to get out of hand as a result of looming deficits, but inflation isn’t the only relevant concern. Another big one is the impact the tax cuts will have on the distribution of income (and wealth) in the U.S.