Ryan Says Six Studies Support Tax Plan — It’s Actually Zero

by Stuart Shapiro

Paul Ryan, in Thursday’s debate cited six studies as defending the dubious proposition that Governor Romney would not have to savage the middle class to pay for his tax cuts.  Josh Barro demolishes this as another of Romney/Ryan’s distortions:

The Romney campaign sent over a list of the studies, but they are perhaps more accurately described as “analyses,” since four of them are blog posts or op-eds. I’m not hating — I blog for a living — but I don’t generally describe my posts as “studies.”

None of the analyses do what Romney’s campaign says: show that his tax plan is sound.

This is part of the conservative battle plan.  Publish analyses in settings that are not reviewed by experts (such as blogs).  Then cite the analyses as well as the ones that Democrats cite and say “Ah there bunch of studies, who knows which ones are right.”  This is just as misleading as the outright lying they practice.

By: Stuart Shapiro

Stuart is a professor and the Director of the Public Policy
program at the Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers
University. He teaches economics and cost-benefit analysis and studies
regulation in the United States at both the federal and state levels.
Prior to coming to Rutgers, Stuart worked for five years at the Office
of Management and Budget in Washington under Presidents Clinton and
George W. Bush.