Ongoing good results from lower taxes, regulations, and spending isn’t a problem for North Carolinians. Empirically tested, sound policies should be expected to produce ongoing good economic returns.
They are, however, a real problem for the editorial board of The News & Observer. According to their house brand of economics, North Carolina should be mired in economic misery and despair and budget deficits, not surpluses.
Instead, we’ve seen the following:
- 2014-15: $447 million surplus
- 2015-16: $430 million surplus
- 2016-17: $581 million surplus
- 2017-18: $440 million surplus
- 2018-19: $897 million surplus, with legislative leaders mulling giving taxpayers a refund
Reacting against that prospect caused the editorial board to write the following today:
Berger and other Republicans hope that North Carolinians ignore the pain of the missing money and instead accept the completely discredited notion that tax cuts generate more revenue by stimulating the economy. They hold up the budget surplus as proof that the Laffer Curve is not laughable, but this surplus isn’t proof. For one, the rise in unexpected revenue this year reflects a one-time effect of major federal tax changes that resulted in a surge in capital gains and corporate profits. More significantly, the surplus points to the Republicans’ choke hold on states pending.
