Shock Treatment

Perot's budget proposal wins raves for its honesty, but many economists fear the timing is wrong

HERE IT COMES AGAIN, THAT HARSH Ross Perot plan. Whoever would have expected that a tract on deficit reduction could captivate people and rank as a best- selling book? In United We Stand, Perot tells how he would raise gasoline taxes 50 cents per gal., boost the top income-tax rate from 31% to 33% and whack 10% out of spending for programs ranging from medical research to highway construction. The goal of such tough actions: to slash the federal deficit and balance the budget in five years. "What Perot has done is to put some real beef on the table," says...

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