American Family Business Institute’s Dick Patten argues the estate tax will hurt jobs because of its impact on family farms and family-owned businesses. It will cost a million jobs.
The estate tax encourages people to spend their money instead of investing it in the economy and trying to make a profit. This is simple economics and people acting in their own best self interest.
In this series on the Estate Tax I will be quoting portions of the article “The Economic Case Against the Death Tax,”(Heritage Foundation, July 20, 2010) by Curtis S. Dubay. Dubay is a Senior Analyst in Tax Policy in the Thomas A. Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies at The Heritage Foundation.
Undermines job creation. Because the death tax discourages saving and investing, it also undermines job creation. Resources that otherwise would have been available for businesses to use to expand their operations and add new workers are consumed by people who deem it wiser to spend the money now than invest it knowing their inheritors will have to pay the death tax later. Furthermore, resources that businesses otherwise would have used to add jobs are diverted to protect families from the death tax.
Suppresses wages and productivity.Since the death tax lowers saving and investing, there are fewer resources available for businesses to purchase additional tools and equipment or replace old and worn-out pieces with new ones. That means less capital their workers can use, and therefore the workers’ productivity does not increase as much as it would have in the absence of the death tax. If the business cannot replace worn-out capital, the productivity of its workers declines. Wages are a function of a worker’s productivity, growing more slowly when productivity slows, and declining when productivity decreases.
R-Berryville
House District 91
Serving his second term
Committees: Transportation; Agriculture
Special connections: House Minority leader
How to reach him: E-mail: kingb@arkleg.state.ar.us. On weekends, call his office at 870-438-4565. Messages are checked.
What you should know: Represents one of the most diverse districts in the state, with Eureka Springs in the middle surrounded by conservative countryside. Interests include helping tourism. Has become strong opponent of ethanol subsidies. Favors more research on biodiesel.
His priority: “Fighting for tax relief, including the reduction in the grocery tax and tax relief for manufacturers. The biggest crisis people face is losing their job.”
Firmest prediction: “A lot of people are going to get fenced off from what they want because money will be hard to get.”
R-Berryville
The Daily Hatch 