The Foreigner-Tax Folly

Clinton's plan to raise $45 billion from non-U.S. companies is a pipe dream, economists say, and reflects a shortsighted view of outside investment

Maybe Bill Clinton really believed that the numbers in his economic plan would add up. Or maybe he was exercising the political campaigner's God-given right to fudge and exaggerate. Either way, those days are gone. Now that he's President-elect, his relatively pain-free prescriptions face a stark reality as they make the transition from promise to practice.

Probably Clinton's most dubious budget idea is his proposal to squeeze foreign companies doing business in the U.S. for $45 billion in taxes over four years. He would rely on that measure to provide nearly one-third of all the new taxes he will need to...

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