Karl W. Smith, Columnist

Biden’s Tax Plan Is Better Than It Looks

It is realistic and makes an honest effort to limit any negative impact on economic growth.

December 6, 2019 at 10:30 AM UTC

Karl W. Smith is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist. Previously, he was vice president for federal policy at the Tax Foundation and assistant professor of economics at the University of North Carolina.

His tax plan isn’t so bad after all.
Photographer: SAUL LOEB/AFP

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One of the objectives of Joe Biden’s tax plan, clearly, is to increase the amount of taxes wealthy Americans pay without imposing a new tax on Americans’ wealth. By this standard — and a few others for which economic conservatives can be grateful — it succeeds.

Biden’s plan is far from ideal. But in today’s political climate, and compared to some proposals offered by his rivals for the Democratic presidential nomination, it is realistic and makes an honest effort to limit any negative impact on economic growth.