Our take: National Public Radio assembled a group of economists from across the political spectrum and actually found consensus about a number of issues. In this edition of "Planet Money," economists explain why the tax deduction for mortgage interest creates perverse incentives that help the rich and hurt the poor, and why double taxation of corporate profits is, economically, a bad idea.
"Watching a presidential campaign, it's easy to think that the nation is deeply divided over how to fix the economy. But when you talk to economists, it turns out they agree on an enormous number of issues.
"So we brought together five economists from across the political spectrum and had them create their dream presidential candidate. Over the next few days, we'll have a series of stories on our economists' dream candidate. We start this morning with some changes to the tax code."
Read more about A Tax Plan That Economists Love (And Politicians Hate) on NPR.org.
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Mortgage interest is taxed to the mortgage company as income. If it is not allowed to be a deduction to the person who pays that interest, it is double taxation.
Mortgage interest is built into the cost of the home as well as the loan. More..
Mountanman, your taxes have not been raised. At least not on a federal level. Nobodies have. The economy has not been destroyed. Not even close. In fact (yes, I know you don't use facts to form your opinion), the economy is healthy and growing. More..
Of course, all these taxes would need to be replaced by a federal sales/consumption tax, called a VAT tax in many countries or GST in Canada. The VAT tax would be significantly higher than the 7-9% sales tax we are accustomed to paying. Many/most More..