New Study Questions Missouri’s Individual Income Tax

I’ve been remiss. I already post less frequently on this blog than I should, but last week I neglected to mention here the release of a new study by R.W. Hafer, "Should Missouri Eliminate the Individual Income Tax?" I got wrapped up in the release of the study to the press, and posting everything online at our primary website, and simply forgot to include the blog in our study release.

So, for those of you who get your Show-Me Institute news from this blog alone, please check out the study. It takes a particularly valuable look at how an income tax distorts labor markets, leading to lower employment levels and dead-weight economic loss. While the study keep a tight focus, stopping short of prescribing a specific alternative to an income tax, it acts as an important piece in the mosaic of economic analyses that we’re building here at the Show-Me Institute.

Also be sure to listen to Missourinet’s brief interview with economist Joe Haslag, of the University of Missouri-Columbia. Haslag is now the Show-Me Institute’s director of research, and his comments are perceptive as always.