And now that author is defending Mitt Romney's tax plan!
Remember that wonderful bestseller from the late 90's?
I wonder if Mitt does?
Dow 36,000: The New Strategy for Profiting from the Coming Rise in the Stock Market.
Well, if you don't, then read what Josh Marshall has to say on the subject.
Now, one of Romney’s problems in this debate is that he’s actually been extremely resistant about releasing any actual information about what’s in his [tax] plan. And that’s forced analysts to make various assumptions about what he’d actually do.
But the campaign’s main campaign angle has been to posit a Romney Economic Boom that would take hold on Romney’s election. So basically, all the formula and modeling doesn’t really matter because Romney’s policies would spur such massive growth that tax revenues just couldn’t help but go up and everyone would do great.
So a typical supply-side argument. But just look who the campaign is putting forward as the expert on the Romney Economic Boom. I’m sort of surprised no one has pointing this out. It’s none other than Kevin Hassett.
Who’s Kevin Hassett? Well, he’s none other than the coauthor of the spectacularly boomtime late 90s bestseller Dow 36,000: The New Strategy for Profiting from the Coming Rise in the Stock Market. As TPM Reader WM points out, not only was the book amazingly wrong and basically assumed the tech boom was permanent, the whole concept was based on the idea that stocks should be valued on a “formula that double-counted earnings and dividends. A true classic in wingnut economics.”
If I recall correctly, the
tech-boom wasn't permanent. In fact, lots of Americans lost their fucking shirts, and at least some of them did so, because of this guy's crackpot ideas.
That doesn't stop Mitt Romney from hiring the author as an economic adviser, AND putting him front and center to defend Mitt's tax plan:
“The study doesn’t take into account important aspects of Governor Romney’s plan, which will have a positive, pro-growth impact on the economy,” senior adviser Eric Fehrnstrom said.
Kevin Hassett, an economic adviser, contended Romney’s plan to lower income tax rates for people at all income levels would boost the nation’s economic growth by about 1 percentage point per year.
Kevin Hassett.
Kevin "DOW 36,000" Hassett
And this is the dude we're supposed to trust, because Romney won't divulge the details of his tax "plan."
Thanks Mitt. Now, go fuck yourself.