COMMITTEE TO UNLEASH PROSPERITY FOUNDERS STEVE FORBES, ART LAFFER, STEPHEN MOORE OFFER THREE STEP EMERGENCY PLAN TO THE WHITE HOUSE TO RESCUE ECONOMY AND FINANCIAL MARKETSFounders of the Committee to Unleash Prosperity Art Laffer, Stephen Moore, and Steve Forbes offered a proposal to the White House in response to the spread of the coronavirus and issued the following statement:
“To stimulate the economy in response to the coronavirus, we offered a three-point plan to the president that continues the bold action he has already taken to flatten the curve of infection and keep America’s economy strong. The centerpiece of our proposal is to temporarily suspend all payroll taxes (employers and employees) retroactive to March 1 and through December 31, 2020. This would help more than 150 million workers and the more than 26 million small business employers. This should be paid for with a new Unleash Prosperity 50 year Treasury bond at 1 percent interest.”
The proposal recommends:
1) Suspend the payroll tax for every business and worker in America through the end of the year. This would apply to employers and workers and would be the equivalent of a 7.5 percent pay raise for every worker and a 7.5 percent payroll cost reduction for all businesses. More than any other proposal, this strongly rewards work and hiring. We support the actions the president has already taken toward these goals.
2) Pay for the tax cut with a 50 year Unleash Prosperity Treasury bond at historically low 1 percent interest rates. There is no shortage of demand for US securities.
3) The Federal Reserve and Treasury should open a short term loan window to make credit available to cash-strapped businesses that have collateral, and have sought credit in the private sector first, so they can make payroll and avoid bankruptcy.
3) The Federal Reserve and Treasury should open a short term loan window to make credit available to cash-strapped businesses that have collateral, and have sought credit in the private sector first, so they can make payroll and avoid bankruptcy.
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Art Laffer is the founder and chairman of Laffer Associates and former member of President Reagan’s Economic Policy Advisory Board.
Stephen Moore is the president of Committee to Unleash Prosperity and served as a senior economic advisor to Donald Trump in 2016.
Steve Forbes is the chairman & Editor-In-Chief of Forbes Media.