Aesop's Fables And Corporate Tax Policy
Aesop, the legendary Greek author of many beloved children's stories, may actually have been an economist. He certainly had something relevant to say to today's Washington leadership about how to thaw our chilled business climate. Remember Aesop's story about the contest between the sun and the wind? In the fable, the two heavenly forces are debating which of them is more powerful when they see a man walking down a lonely road. They decide to settle their dispute by seeing which of them can get the man's coat off the fastest. The wind tries first, blowing fiercely at the man's shoulders. But the man pulls the coat closer, and the wind cannot get it off. Then the sun takes its turn. It shines gently on the man, slowly warming him, until he decides to take the coat off himself. I thought of this story the other day as I considered the tax policy debate, and the Obama administration's fervent desire to get corporations to start spending the trillions of dollars t...