Laffer says Kansas is doing fine

These are heady times for Arthur Laffer, the 75-year-old adviser to Ronald Reagan behind the discredited notion that cutting tax rates creates economic growth. A Washington Post profile revealed that Laffer had meetings booked one day last week with five potential GOP presidential candidates and already had met with two others. The article also noted how Gov. Sam Brownback’s Kansas had seen revenue shortfalls and limited growth since paying $75,000 for Laffer’s advice leading up to the state’s drastic 2012 tax reform, which eliminated state income taxes for 330,000 small-business owners. According to the Post: “When Brownback, under threat, called Laffer, worried about whether the tax cuts were working as planned, Laffer said he told Brownback to remember why he cut those taxes in the first place. The growth will come. Be patient. ‘Kansas is doing fine,’” Laffer told the Post. The next measure of Laffer’s assessment comes Monday, when the state’s Consensus Revenue Estimating Group meets. – Rhonda Holman

This story was originally published April 16, 2015 at 7:05 PM.