Transcription of an interview of economist, Wayne D. Angell by Maria Bartiromo Fox Business “Opening Bell” on November 6, 2014
M (Maria)—November 6, 2014 WSJ Op-Ed by John Boehner and Mitch Mc Connell.
“Our priorities in the 114th Congress will be your priorities. That means addressing head-on many of the most pressing challenges facing the country, including: the insanely complex tax code that is driving American jobs overseas…”
With more I want to bring in Wayne Angell. He is a former Federal Reserve Governor and former Chief Economist at Bear Stearns.
Wayne, it is wonderful to have you back. Good to see you.
W (Wayne)—Thank you, Maria.
M –What’s your take on the Mid-Term Elections Victory for the GOP?
W – Well, I think it’s fantastic, but it really means the GOP must get positive and must not see itself as being a negative force.
M – Will they be able to achieve what they write in this Op-Ed this morning? Will they be able to get tax reform moving?
W – Well, the way to get tax reform moving is to change the base from income tax to consumer tax, that is, what we’ve got to do is we’ve got to make it so that the tax xyxtem doesn’t distort economic activity, and the current one does, because it places the tax on our exports. Why could we tax exports?
M –Well, what’s your plan in terms of tax reform? I mean, how do you think a tax policy should look?
W –Well, I think a tax policy should look, first of all, the rates ought to be flat, and we ought to have a rebate of that tax for the lowest income people, so that they don’t end up paying the tax.
M –Alright, and where does the money come from?
W –Well, the money comes from taxes on what people spend, so both imports and locally produced goods would all be taxed at the same rate.
M – Wayne, what’s your take on the economy right now? Do you think the numbers are telling the true story when we see these improvements in the data?
W – Well, I think the numbers barely tell the true story. I think the economy is very strong and will continue to strengthen as we go through out 2014.
M – What’s your take on the only thing that actually can get done with the new Congress? I mean, what’s the low hanging fruit here, Wayne? I don’t think it’s tax reform. Is it something else?
W – Well, I think that tax reform, if it is not done, everything else jams up behind it. So I think we’ve got to get tax reform accomplished.
M – Alright. We will be watching. Wayne, good to have you on the show today. Thanks so much for joining us.
During part of the interview there was a split screen titled “The Fair Tax Plan” listing 3 points about the Fair Tax.