Economics
Taxing the Rich to Fund Welfare Is the Nobel Winner’s Growth Mantra
- Lowering taxes to boost investments is a myth, says Banerjee
- Distributing tax money among the poor seen driving consumption
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How do you spur demand in an economy? By raising taxes, not cutting them, says this year’s winner of the Nobel prize for economics.
Reducing taxes to boost investment is a myth spread by businesses, says Abhijit Banerjee, who won the prize along with Esther Duflo of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Michael Kremer of Harvard University for their approach to alleviating global poverty. “You are giving incentives to the rich who are already sitting on tons of cash.”