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Low tax rates. Low taxes increase the return to work, savings and investment. If the top rate is 90% (as it was during World War II) and you work on Saturday to earn $100 then you keep ten dollars and the state gets 90 dollars. When Reagan brought the top rate to 28%, the same amount of work yields 72 dollars for you and 28 for the government. The return to work increased by seven times. Lower rates have the same effect on savings and investment. The return on savings and investment increases. The cost of immediate consumption increases.
Limited government spending. The true cost of government is spending. Money can be extracted from the economy through taxes, debt or inflating the currency every dollar spent will eventually be wrung from the private sector. Keep your eye on total spending, not side issues like the deficit.
Property rights respected by and enforced by a limited government that is funded by low taxes. People invest in things they own: land, houses, cars, clothing. No one washes a rented car.
Free Trade. Free Trade is another word for free markets and low taxes across the globe. Tariffs are just taxes at the border and they are paid by Americans who must pay extra to buy a shirt from Brazil.
President of Americans For Tax Reform, Grover Norquist
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