Everything is Relative
15 July 2007
The Editor, The New York Post
To the Editor:
Terry Keenan says that it's unfair that gains on hedge-funds are taxed at the capital-gains tax rate of 15 percent rather than at the higher income-tax rate of 35 percent ("Richest Men in the World Cry Poverty on Capitol Hill," July 15).
I agree. But why not solve this problem by lowering income-tax rates rather than raising the capital-gains rate? In this debate du jour, most people unthinkingly assume that hedge-fund owners are receiving an unjustified break. Isn't it at least possible that other income earners are being unjustifiably milked by the political class in Washington?
Sincerely,
Donald J. Boudreaux
Chairman, Department of Economics
George Mason University
The Editor, The New York Post
To the Editor:
Terry Keenan says that it's unfair that gains on hedge-funds are taxed at the capital-gains tax rate of 15 percent rather than at the higher income-tax rate of 35 percent ("Richest Men in the World Cry Poverty on Capitol Hill," July 15).
I agree. But why not solve this problem by lowering income-tax rates rather than raising the capital-gains rate? In this debate du jour, most people unthinkingly assume that hedge-fund owners are receiving an unjustified break. Isn't it at least possible that other income earners are being unjustifiably milked by the political class in Washington?
Sincerely,
Donald J. Boudreaux
Chairman, Department of Economics
George Mason University
Posted by Don Boudreaux on
Tuesday February 12, 2008 at 12:19pm