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The "Growth Tax" in the United States

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  • Scully, Gerald W

Abstract

By providing public goods, including law and order, national defense, and income redistribution that expands the gains from exchange (the scope and membership of the constitutional agreement), government expenditures act as a positive externality on the growth rate. Beyond that level, taxes act as a negative externality. In this paper, a simple model is formulated and the optimal (growth-maximizing) tax rate found. Empirical estimation finds it to be in the range of 21.5-22.9 percent. The effect of taxation beyond this level is a cumulative loss of about $30 trillion (1972 dollars) in GNP over the period 1949-89. Copyright 1995 by Kluwer Academic Publishers

Suggested Citation

  • Scully, Gerald W, 1995. "The "Growth Tax" in the United States," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 85(1-2), pages 71-80, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:pubcho:v:85:y:1995:i:1-2:p:71-80
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    Cited by:

    1. Giuseppe Di Liddo, 2015. "Urban sprawl and regional growth: empirical evidence from Italian Regions," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 35(4), pages 2141-2160.
    2. Andrew Phiri, 2016. "The Growth Trade-off between Direct and Indirect Taxes in South Africa: Evidence from a STR Model," Managing Global Transitions, University of Primorska, Faculty of Management Koper, vol. 14(3 (Fall)), pages 233-250.
    3. Yawovi Mawussé Isaac Amedanou, 2019. "Optimal Taxation and Economic Growth in Togo: Empirical Investigation in Time Series [Taxation Optimale et Croissance Economique au Togo : une Evidence Empirique en Séries Temporelles]," Post-Print hal-01990213, HAL.
    4. Jeeban Amgain, 2017. "Estimating Optimal Level of Taxation for Growth Maximization in Asia," Applied Economics and Finance, Redfame publishing, vol. 4(3), pages 47-55, May.
    5. Emilian DOBRESCU, 2016. "Controversies over the Size of the Public Budget," Journal for Economic Forecasting, Institute for Economic Forecasting, vol. 0(4), pages 5-34, December.
    6. Olaoye, Olumide O. & Eluwole, Oluwatosin O. & Ayesha, Aziz & Afolabi, Olugbenga O., 2020. "Government spending and economic growth in ECOWAS: An asymmetric analysis," The Journal of Economic Asymmetries, Elsevier, vol. 22(C).
    7. Andrew Phiri, 2017. "Nonlinearities in Wagner's law: further evidence from South Africa," International Journal of Sustainable Economy, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 9(3), pages 231-249.
    8. David Giles & Patrick Caragata, 2001. "The learning path of the hidden economy: the tax burden and tax evasion in New Zealand," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 33(14), pages 1857-1867.
    9. Giuseppe Di Liddo & Cosimo Magazzino & Francesco Porcelli, 2015. "Decentralization, Growth And Optimal Government Size In The Italian Regional Framework," Working Papers 0115, CREI Università degli Studi Roma Tre, revised 2015.
    10. Hüseyin Şen & Ayşe Kaya & Ayşegül Durucan, 2023. "New insights into the growth-maximizing size of government: evidence and implications for Turkey," Economic Change and Restructuring, Springer, vol. 56(4), pages 2243-2296, August.
    11. Zezethu Zandile & Andrew Phiri, 2019. "Fdi As A Contributing Factor To Economic Growth In Burkina Faso: How True Is This?," Global Economy Journal (GEJ), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 19(01), pages 1-27, March.
    12. Asimakopoulos, Stylianos & Karavias, Yiannis, 2016. "The impact of government size on economic growth: A threshold analysis," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 139(C), pages 65-68.
    13. Coll Sebastian, 2014. "Is There Too Much Government in Developed Countries? A Time-Series Analysis of 24 OECD-Economies," Journal of Heterodox Economics, Sciendo, vol. 1(1), pages 1-30, June.
    14. Cosimo Magazzino, 2014. "Government Size and Economic Growth in Italy: An Empirical Analyses Based On New Data (1861-2008)," International Journal of Empirical Finance, Research Academy of Social Sciences, vol. 3(2), pages 38-54.
    15. Lucas Menescal & José Alves, 2022. "Optimal Threshold Taxation: An Empirical Investigation for Developing Economies," CESifo Working Paper Series 9782, CESifo.
    16. Minford, Patrick & Meenagh, David & Wang, Jiang, 2007. "Growth and relative living standards - testing Barriers to Riches on post-war panel data," Cardiff Economics Working Papers E2007/12, Cardiff University, Cardiff Business School, Economics Section.
    17. Alexandru Minea & Patrick Villieu, 2009. "Impôt, déficit et croissance économique : un réexamen de la courbe de Laffer," Revue d'économie politique, Dalloz, vol. 119(4), pages 653-675.
    18. Gordon Brady, 2015. "Austerity in the European Union: Keynesian Stimulus versus Fiscal Consolidation," Atlantic Economic Journal, Springer;International Atlantic Economic Society, vol. 43(1), pages 55-65, March.
    19. Bekzod ABDULLAEV & Laszlo KONYA, 2014. "Growth Maximizing Tax Rate for Uzbekistan," Applied Econometrics and International Development, Euro-American Association of Economic Development, vol. 14(1), pages 59-72.
    20. Motloja, Lehlohonolo & Makhoana, Tsholofelo & Kassoma, Rooyen & Houdman, Rozadian & Phiri, Andrew, 2016. "Changes in the optimal tax rate in South Africa prior and subsequent to the global recession period," MPRA Paper 74342, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    21. Olufemi Muibi SAIBU, 2015. "Optimal tax rate and economic growth. Evidence from Nigeria and South Africa," EuroEconomica, Danubius University of Galati, issue 1(34), pages 41-50, May.
    22. Emilian Dobrescu, 2016. "LINS Curve in Romanian Economy," The AMFITEATRU ECONOMIC journal, Academy of Economic Studies - Bucharest, Romania, vol. 18(41), pages 136-136, February.
    23. Giuseppe Di Liddo, 2015. "Urban sprawl and regional growth: first empirical evidence from Italian Regions," Working papers 28, Società Italiana di Economia Pubblica.
    24. Di Liddo, Giuseppe, 2015. "Urban sprawl and regional growth: empirical evidence from Italian Regions," Working Papers 1505, SIET Società Italiana di Economia dei Trasporti e della Logistica.

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