● Pay Up!: Conservative Myths About Tax Cuts for the Rich
John C. Campbell
Summary via publisher (Cambridge U. Press)
Since the Reagan era, conservatives in the United States have championed cutting taxes, especially for wealthy individuals and corporations, as the best way to achieve economic prosperity. In his new book, Pay Up!, John L. Campbell shows that while these claims are highly influential, they are also wrong. Using historical and cross-national evidence, the book challenges and refutes every justification conservatives have made for tax cuts – that American taxes are too high; they hurt the economy; they facilitate government waste; they constitute an unfair downward redistribution of income; and they threaten individual freedom – and conversely shows that countries can actually benefit from higher taxes, especially when tax increases fall most heavily on those most able to pay them.
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Macro Briefing: 26 September 2025
US jobless claims fell again last week, blunting concerns that the labor market is in danger. First-time filings for the week ended Sept. 20 totaled a seasonally adjusted 218,000, close to the lowest level this year.
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Macro Briefing: 25 September 2025
New US home sales surged in August. Signed contracts for new single-family homes jumped to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 800,000, a 21% from the previous month and 15% above the year-ago level. Nancy Vanden Houten, a lead US economist at Oxford Economics, said the increase “likely overstates any improvement in housing activity. New home sales are prone to heavy revisions. A flat-ish trend in sales, similar to what has been evident all year, seems more likely.”
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Macro Briefing: 24 September 2025
US economic growth cools in September, according to the Composite PMI Output Index, a survey-based GDP proxy. Although the pace downshifted for a second month, “Further robust growth of output in September rounds off the best quarter so far this year for US businesses,” says Chris Williamson, chief business economist at S&P Global Market Intelligence.
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Macro Briefing: 23 September 2025
US economic activity strengthened in August, according to the Chicago Fed National Activity Index. Although output remained below trend, the monthly reading picked up to the strongest reading since March.
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