Word: okun
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...increase will have the same effect on the economy as a big new tax boost would. There is a growing consensus among Republicans and Democrats that some sort of new tax cuts will be needed to cushion the oil shock and keep the economy rising. Says Economist Arthur Okun: "It is crucial that oil prices do not drain real consumer purchasing power...
...autos, oil, steel, computers, etc.), those firms compete fiercely for market shares. Advertising has failed to sell products as varied as the Edsel and maxiskirts. Strong consumer resistance can occasionally force price reductions, as the recent auto rebates proved anew. "When even the auto companies are cutting prices," cracks Okun, "then you know that capitalism lives...
Economists are still unsure precisely when the turn-around occurred, but they are virtually unanimous that the recovery is going to be slow, at least at the out set. Arthur Okun of the Brookings Institution reckons that April may have been the low point; yet he warns that unless the Administration takes more stimulative action, "this will be the most ane mic recovery in postwar history...
Such changes, Okun asserts, could easily be afforded by the rich, who get more of the national wealth than is often realized. Today, it takes the earnings of nearly 20 U.S. families at the bottom of the economic pile to match the spending power of just one family with after-tax income of $50,000 a year or more. Okun also finds unconvincing the argument that higher taxes on the rich discourage savings and investment. He notes that in 1929, when federal taxes were low and minimally progressive, the U.S. saved and invested 16% of its gross national product...
...Okun's arguments are open to dispute. But he has set something of a standard of realism for liberals by considering seriously the cost in efficiency of egalitarian reforms-and by conceding candidly that the inherent conflict between equality and efficiency cannot be solved, but only made more bearable...