University of Chicago Experts Evaluate Forbes’ Tax Plan

Faculty experts at the University of Chicago are available to comment today during Presidential Candidate Steve Forbes’ visit to the city.

Joseph Isenbergh
Professor
University of Chicago Law School
Silver Tree Hotel (Aspen, Colo.)
(970) 923-3520, ext. 1427

People’s first concern is the immediate bottom line: Will this change mean I will pay more or less taxes next year? It will be hard to tell just by listening to campaign speak. Isenberg says. On the campaign trail, “Flat is a proxy for simple but also low,” Isenbergh says. “That’s a complete myth.” A flat tax, he says, “need not be low, or flat. It could even increase revenue.”

Raaj Sah
Professor
Irving B. Harris Graduate School of Public Policy
University of Chicago
(773) 702-8356

Sah says “a flat tax is efficient, meaning it doesn’t influence economic behavior, and it answers a traditional desire among Americans for ever-simpler government. But it’s impossible to eliminate every tax loophole, especially in a complex age, and in fact, if you add up all the taxes we pay–sales tax, social security, income tax, property tax–we’re already more or less flat across income levels.”