If You Pass This Bill, We’ll Shoot This Small Business

by Stuart Shapiro

It’s one of the oldest political tricks in the book.  Whenever there is legislation you don’t like, claim it hurts small businesses.  Everybody loves small businesses.  What could be more American than starting your own business and seeing it succeed?  What could be worse than stifling these many entrepreneurs?

The latest version of this involves the repeal of the Bush tax cuts.  Kevin Drum pokes the obvious holes in the argument that repealing the cuts will hurt small businesses.  The punchline:

So that’s the case. Letting Bush’s tax cuts for the rich expire affects only a tiny number of small businesses; it doesn’t affect them very much; and it generates revenues of $678 billion. If the only thing you care about is keeping taxes low for rich people, you won’t be convinced. For the rest of us, it’s a no-brainer.

When you hear a politician voicing concern for small businesses, chances are he or she is is shilling for big business.

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.