Bruce Bartlett’s Complete History of the Laffer Curve from Ibn Khaldun to Ronald Reagan

If you haven’t read Bruce Bartlett’s complete history of the Laffer Curve, you should. The upshot is that you do not need special circumstances for high tax rates to be capable of inflicting significant damage on the underlying economy. But you do need exceptional circumstances to actually get a free lunch out of the Laffer Curve…

Bruce Bartlett:

• The Laffer Curve, Part 1: “The Laffer Curve… economist Norman Ture, who worked closely with Rep. Jack Kemp, probably had more to do with popularizing the idea of a tax cut that could pay for itself than economist Arthur Laffer did…”
• The Laffer Curve, Part 2: “The Laffer Curve from the Middle Ages through the 19th century. It begins with the work of Muslim philosopher Ibn Khaldun in the 14th century, whose work came to the attention of economist Robert Mundell in 1971. Mundell brought it to the attention of journalist Jude Wanniski of the Wall Street Journal. Ronald Reagan mentioned Khaldun by name on 11 different occasions as an influence on his thinking…. Jonathan Swift… observed in 1728 that higher tariff rates often led to a decline in revenue. Adam Smith, David Hume, Alexander Hamilton, Jean-Baptiste Say and James Madison are just a few of those who cited Swift…. [In] 19th century tariff history and notes that discussions of the revenue impact of changes in rates of duty often invoked Laffer Curve arguments…”