Have tax cuts been good for the economy?

Fox news business anchor Neil Cavuto almost had a fist-fight on his hands Saturday during “Cavuto on Business” when his Republican panelists took opposite sides on whether President Bush’s tax cuts have been good for the economy or have caused record deficits, according to News Hounds.

His usually reliable Republican guest, Ben Stein, criticized the Bush tax cuts, and that was almost more than Cavuto could stand.

News Hounds wrote, “Cavuto pegged his show on the premise that viewers should ‘forgot talk that tax cuts only help the rich. There could be proof now that they help all of us.’

“Since the Bush tax cuts of 2003, Cavuto said, without citing a source, the economy has grown by 20 percent, 6.2 million jobs have been added, and tax receipts are up 30 percent. Cavuto failed to say if the 6.2 million jobs was a net figure, what the average salaries of those jobs were, or what the federal deficit is.

“Jim Rogers, author of Hot Commodities, took the usual GOP line that, ‘we can spend our money better than Congress can, better than George Bush can, or better than Clinton could. We spend our money and it makes things better.’

“Token Democrat Gregg Hymowitz countered that low interest rates may have helped the economy more than the tax cuts, and that the economy might have done even better had the tax cuts been targeted to the middle and lower class rather than to the rich.”

Read more here. Why not have economists debate this issue instead of politicians?