http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/domestic/economy

Since the late 1970s and building through the era of Ronald Reagan, there has been an ongoing debate about the effectiveness of supply-side economics. Lehman Brothers = bankrupt. Merrill Lynch = sold. Fannie Mac & Freddie Mac = in crisis. Bear Stearns = failed. Former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers appeared at the Center for American Progress to discuss the current economic crisis facing middle class America and the trickle down economic theory espoused by conservatives. Do tax cuts spur economic growth and pay for themselves with higher revenues on additional economic activity stimulated? This debate will be revived in the coming year as the incoming President and Congress will soon decide whether to renew of a variety of tax cuts adopted starting in 2001 and set to expire in 2010. Economists now have years of experience with this tax policy. What does the evidence show us? What has been the public debate about tax policy and supply-side and has it shifted in light of growing inequality and limited sharing of the benefits of economic growth?