Mark Bloomfield, President, American Council for Capital Formation
Biography provided by participant
Mark A. Bloomfield, a well-known lobbyist for lower taxes on capital and business, is president and CEO of the American Council for Capital Formation, a group that advocates and engages in research and analysis of US tax, trade, energy and economic policies. He is a co-editor or contributor to six books on tax and economic policy including The U.S. Savings Challenge: Policy Options for Productivity and Growth and The Consumption Tax: A Better Alternative. Bloomfield received a JD from the University of Pennsylvania Law School, earned a Masters in Business Administration from the Wharton School, and graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Swarthmore College.
John Maggs asks if the higher tax burden on the top 1 or 2 percent of earners is efficient? Both liberal and conservative economists agree that it is not. Liberals authored the Bradley-Gephardt progressive income tax, which is based on lower tax rates in exchange for eliminating so-called tax loopholes. They knew that high marginal rates were inefficient and often focused attention more on tax avoidance than productive economic activity. Many conservatives on the other hand favor a consumption tax base in lieu of an income tax. They too favor lower marginal rates but on a consumption basis. To Maggs second question, is… Read more
To paraphrase Mark Twain, “Too much to drink is barely enough.” While I’m definitely not supporting inebriation or bad behavior, it should be no surprise that as President of the American for Capital Formation my thoughts on too much saving are that it’s “barely enough.” Nobel prize winners, conservative or liberal from Friedman to Krugman, say the level of savings in an economy is a long-term indicator of its strength. Savings, of course, consist of three components: government, business and personal. In recent decades, the U.S. has failed on all three and this has been considered by… Read more
John Maggs, our web ringmaster, couldn’t have said it better. Tax reform efforts are "handcuffed!" Our current U.S. tax system, whose fundamental structure dates back to the 19th century buggy whip era, cannot sustain the current political and economic demands of 21st Century America and a global economy. As I write, three of my earlier blog colleagues that have responded thus far have made compelling arguments that support my contention. Professor Frankel, I understand your rationale for taxing energy consumption to address environmental externalities but why limit yourself to those inefficiencies? Wouldn’t it be wiser to… Read more
With the “AIG Story” as the latest headline in the seemingly endless financial and economic turmoil now going on for more than a year on the minds of a frightened and angry American public, the President and Members of Congress of both political parties and the media (which is trying to explain it all), it is no surprise that some are asking: “Are there fundamental flaws in market-based capitalism?” My answer is “no.” But, with public support for a free market economy waning, I fear for its future. True, it’s not the 1930s with Father Coughlin, Huey Long and a… Read more
“Our question of the week: “Is The Economic Forecast Too Optimistic?” triggers some thoughts I would like to share with my fellow “expert” bloggers.” I’m not sure that the Administration’s baseline forecast before -- and I want to stress before -- its policy recommendations was too optimistic. Few soothsayers predicted the 6.2 percent drop in GDP in the 4th quarter and the weaker economy we now face. However, I do worry that their projections of growth this year and next are too optimistic because I fear both the beginning and the nipping in the bud of a recovery from… Read more
“I’ve enjoyed reading the older and newer ideas of my fellow economic policy bloggers to amend, improve and put our stamp on the President-elect’s stimulus package. But, to respond to our moderator’s specific question of the week—my “favorite idea for economic stimulus that still is not getting the attention it should receive,” (I raised it on our blog a few weeks ago) is a tax proposal to bring several hundred billion dollars of capital sitting overseas back home and put it to work in the good old USA. Here’s some more background. Believe it or not, there is such thing… Read more
I’m pleased that attention is now shifting to the content of a stimulus package, especially a tax piece to complement the President-Elect’s spending initiatives. See the case I made for a tax component to an economic recovery package in a recent commentary in the Washington Times. The suggestions by some for a payroll tax holiday or a gasoline tax should just begin the debate. Renowned economist Allen Sinai just completed new research for the American Council for Capital Formation using the Sinai-Boston Econometric Model. Sinai concludes that a temporary one-year reinstatement of the dividends received deduction for repatriated foreign subsidiary… Read more
President-elect-Obama’s twin tax policy goals of middle class relief and economic growth are admirable but here are a small suggestion and a big one to stir the pot. What does the middle class want? One thing they don’t want is to see their hard-earned savings for a rainy day, a first home, their kids’ college educations and all their retirement savings taxed and taxed several times more, which our current tax code does. “Gimme back my nest egg” is a common plea of many in the middle class. How about in the short term cutting the capital gains tax to… Read more
Biography provided by participant
