Visualizing the Romney Tax Debate
Tax reform has emerged as a major bone of contention in the 2012 Presidential election campaign. While President Obama has identified some tax changes, Governor Romney proposes major systemic reform. But is his plan - especially the proposals for individual taxation - viable?
The critics say the individual taxation component of his plan is not viable - indeed that it is not even mathematically possible. This is a very strong claim, since a plan that is mathematically possible may fall short on other tests such as distributional equity and economic efficiency - let alone political saleability.
In the debate that has ensued, a paper produced by the
Tax Policy Center has occupied center stage. Just about all the critics have taken this analysis as their starting point - and Romney has countered by submitting a list of other studies which, he contends, refute the TPC analysis.
In this map we aim to produce a comprehensive visualization of this debate. It includes all the major lines of criticism of the TPC analysis, along with arguments of both critics and defenders from the media and blogosphere. We attempt to identify all the essential arguments for both sides, without repetition, rebuttals of them - and rebuttals of rebuttals. We also aim to depict the relationships and dependencies between the various studies that have been cited in the debate.