Economists Expose GOP Economic Lies

In their desire to continue slanting the economy's benefits toward the richest Americans, the Republicans have repeatedly told a group of lies -- lies that make it sound like their economic views make sense. One of those lies is that the economic stimulus plan passed by President Obama and the Democratic Congress (before the Republicans took control of the House), did not save or create any American jobs, and may have actually had a negative effect on jobs. But when that question was asked of economists, about 80% of them said the unemployment rate was lower at the end of 2010 than it would have been without the stimulus bill -- in other words, the stimulus bill worked to either save or create jobs (or both).

Now this doesn't come from some liberal think tank. It is a survey done of 40 of the nation's top economists by the University of Chicago School of Business (which is certainly not regarded as a bastion of liberal thought). And that wasn't the only silly GOP economic claim that the economists disagreed with. Here are some of the others:

A CUT IN INCOME TAX RATES RIGHT NOW WOULD RESULT IN HIGHER TAX REVENUES 5 YEARS FROM NOW THAN IF THE CUTS HAD NOT BEEN MADE.
Agree...............0%
Uncertain...............8%
Disagree...............71%

CHANGES IN GASOLINE PRICES OVER THE LAST 10 YEARS HAVE NOT BEEN DUE TO GOVERNMENT POLICIES, BUT TO MARKET FORCES.
Agree...............88%
Uncertain...............7%
Disagree...............0%

THE TYPICAL U.S. CORPORATE CEO IS PAID MORE THAN HIS/HER CONTRIBUTION TO THE FIRMS VALUE.
Agree...............32%
Uncertain...............32%
Disagree...............7%

PRICE-STABILITY AND EMPLOYMENT OUTCOMES WOULD BE BETTER FOR THE AVERAGE AMERICAN IF THIS COUNTRY REPLACED ITS DISCRETIONARY MONETARY POLICY WITH A GOLD STANDARD.
Agree...............0%
Uncertain...............0%
Disagree...............93%

WITHOUT INSIDE INFORMATION, INVESTORS CANNOT CONSISTENTLY MAKE ACCURATE PREDICTIONS ABOUT WHETHER THE PRICE OF A STOCK WILL RISE OR FALL ON ANY GIVEN DAY. (This is especially important because the GOP wants to privatize Social Security and put it at the whims of the stock market.)
Agree...............95%
Uncertain...............0%
Disagree...............0%

RAISING THE FEDERAL TAX RATE BY 1% ON THOSE IN THE TOP TAX BRACKET WOULD INCREASE FEDERAL REVENUES OVER THE NEXT 10 YEARS.
Agree...............93%
Uncertain...............2%
Disagree...............0%

In short, the stimulus did work, cutting taxes will not increase tax revenues, raising taxes on the rich will increase tax revenues, gas prices are not the fault of the president, going back to the gold standard is a bad idea, corporate CEOs are overpaid, and the stock market is legalized gambling. Most Republicans disagree with the economists on all of these items -- which is just one more good reason to vote against them in November.