Economist Warns of Dire Consequences if Tax Reform Stalls
Jonathan Curry | Tax Notes
“[Alex Brill] emphasized that Congress’s tax reform timeline should not be dictated by attempts to ‘micromanage the quarter-by-quarter performance of the U.S. economy.’ Still, Brill acknowledged that it’s politically important to prioritize and maintain momentum on tax reform. ‘Moving slowly raises the risk that the process will never conclude,’ he said. ‘A protracted process faces higher risks of political interference, and there are always competing legislative matters that can interfere and further delay a slow-moving reform agenda item.’ . . . Brill said he did not foresee what he called an ‘economic cliff’ if tax reform stalls. Rather, he said the consequence of failure would be more of the same: ‘More U.S. firms will be acquired by foreign firms, more investment will be made abroad instead of domestically, more stagnant wage growth, and more misallocation of capital.'”