Stephen Dubner

I know a lot of economists who have worked in Republican White Houses and Democratic White Houses and in different organizations affiliated with the White House. And I know them primarily from academia. Within academia, I've always had the belief that you have to be an honest broker because your arguments and research are being interrogated so rigorously by your peers and you just can't really BS.

I know a lot of economists who have worked in Republican White Houses and Democratic White Houses and in different organizations affiliated with the White House. And I know them primarily from academia. Within academia, I've always had the belief that you have to be an honest broker because your arguments and research are being interrogated so rigorously by your peers and you just can't really BS.

I know a lot of economists who have worked in Republican White Houses and Democratic White Houses and in different organizations affiliated with the White House. And I know them primarily from academia. Within academia, I've always had the belief that you have to be an honest broker because your arguments and research are being interrogated so rigorously by your peers and you just can't really BS.

So when I hear you talk about economists and policymakers in the Biden administration telling this story that just doesn't sound like you could justify it at all, it makes me wonder what's going on there. When... bright and I assume well-intentioned people, economists and others, come to Washington and I'm talking about the left and the right. Is this dishonesty going on?

So when I hear you talk about economists and policymakers in the Biden administration telling this story that just doesn't sound like you could justify it at all, it makes me wonder what's going on there. When... bright and I assume well-intentioned people, economists and others, come to Washington and I'm talking about the left and the right. Is this dishonesty going on?

So when I hear you talk about economists and policymakers in the Biden administration telling this story that just doesn't sound like you could justify it at all, it makes me wonder what's going on there. When... bright and I assume well-intentioned people, economists and others, come to Washington and I'm talking about the left and the right. Is this dishonesty going on?

Is this just like how the game is played and we have to play it this way? Is it that it's such a complicated scenario that they figure they can tell a little white lie and get away with it because it's too hard to figure out the bigger truth?

Is this just like how the game is played and we have to play it this way? Is it that it's such a complicated scenario that they figure they can tell a little white lie and get away with it because it's too hard to figure out the bigger truth?

Is this just like how the game is played and we have to play it this way? Is it that it's such a complicated scenario that they figure they can tell a little white lie and get away with it because it's too hard to figure out the bigger truth?

Here's a sobering line from your article. You write, What would you say are the ultimate costs of tax policy being so widely either misunderstood or manipulated?

Here's a sobering line from your article. You write, What would you say are the ultimate costs of tax policy being so widely either misunderstood or manipulated?

Here's a sobering line from your article. You write, What would you say are the ultimate costs of tax policy being so widely either misunderstood or manipulated?

What share of our current fiscal irresponsibility, let's call it, would you say can be attributed directly to tax policy? Oh, boy. I can't believe I stumped you on that one.

What share of our current fiscal irresponsibility, let's call it, would you say can be attributed directly to tax policy? Oh, boy. I can't believe I stumped you on that one.

What share of our current fiscal irresponsibility, let's call it, would you say can be attributed directly to tax policy? Oh, boy. I can't believe I stumped you on that one.

So if we somehow miraculously had what Jessica Riedel considers the optimal tax policy, how far would that go toward addressing the larger issue of fiscal irresponsibility?

So if we somehow miraculously had what Jessica Riedel considers the optimal tax policy, how far would that go toward addressing the larger issue of fiscal irresponsibility?

So if we somehow miraculously had what Jessica Riedel considers the optimal tax policy, how far would that go toward addressing the larger issue of fiscal irresponsibility?

So if we want to look at the big picture, the entire fiscal irresponsibility, including the national debt, I'm starting to wonder if these 10 tax myths may be more like the hole and not the doughnut.

So if we want to look at the big picture, the entire fiscal irresponsibility, including the national debt, I'm starting to wonder if these 10 tax myths may be more like the hole and not the doughnut.