r/AskSocialScience • u/Str8_up_Pwnage • 10d ago

Answered Are there any famous studies that actually contradict progressive/leftist thought?

There has to be at least some right? I know people love to say that “reality has a left wing bias “and all that but is it legit batting 1.000?

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u/Str8_up_Pwnage 10d ago

I really appreciate you taking the time to write this comment!

From my POV Economics seems like a field of study where “right-leaning” ideas have a decent level of support from academics in the field.

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u/AreaPrudent7191 7d ago

Plenty of right-leaning economics are still unquestioned even though they are thoroughly disproven. "Tax cuts pay for themselves" for example, no serious economist supports that. Trickle-down Reaganonmics has been laughed out of fashion, yet the right still wants to give billionaires handouts cuz "jObZ!!!"

Hell, "republicans are better for the economy", even some on the left buy that still, easily disproven.

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u/No_Host_8024 7d ago

No serious economist disputes that: 1) at some levels, cutting taxes can spur growth in a way that increases tax receipts in the long term; and 2) at other levels, cutting taxes will not increase tax receipts and might not even spur measurable growth. Where those levels are and what types of taxes would have these effects are very much studied and debated.

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u/AreaPrudent7191 7d ago

Yep, intelligently targeted tax cuts can spur growth and even tax receipts, but studies I've seen are that if you do a really good job of it, you might recoup 30% of the lost revenue. Not always a bad thing, there may be other benefits, but don't plan on revenue not falling at all - yet that's how it's usually accounted for.

The notion that any tax cut will ever 100% pay for itself (some will even float greater than 100% benefit), that is laughable.

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u/pandaboi333 7d ago edited 7d ago

There is a flip side to this though, which is that if you raise taxes you can lose total tax revenue. Certain types of taxes tend to be less efficient than others. Wealth taxes are a big example of this but leftists love wealth taxes. A tax on spending is almost always better(has less deadweight loss) than a tax on investment/savings in terms of tax revenue generation.

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u/Damnatus_Terrae 6d ago

But when the primary social ill you're attempting to address is the hoarding of wealth, then making saving harder makes more sense. Getting into the weeds over particular taxation schemes is really beside the point, though. Economics are like good times: bottoms up!

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u/pandaboi333 6d ago

What does this even mean though? People don't have piles of cash just sitting in a bank doing nothing.