The Aug. 15 editorial "The Tax Cuts Re-Examined" observed that a policy of perpetual tax cuts is irrational because as societies grow wealthier they demand more government services.
A fact not mentioned by The Post, but that supports its position, is that the only serious historical study done on the effect on economic growth that results from government spending on social welfare shows that, contrary to the mantra of contemporary conservatives, social spending has had no negative effect on economic growth.
"Growing Public," by economic historian Peter H. Lindert, concluded that "nine decades of historical experience fail to show that transferring a larger share of GDP from taxpayers to transfer recipients has a negative correlation with either the level or the rate of growth of GDP per person." Moreover, that insight is not really new.
Alexander Hamilton -- America's first and still its greatest conservative -- believed that raising taxes would spur economic growth by making people work harder to achieve their desired standard of living.
RICHARD JOFFE
New York
