Should the tax cuts be extended?

[dawg]

3. An across-the-board increase in taxes on 1/1/2013 would be contractionary.

The wealthy won't have to restrain their spending if their tax cuts expire. At worst, it will affect their investment activity.

On the other hand, families making $150,000 or less would probably be forced to cut back, which would be bad for the fragile economy. As for families in the $250,000 range, they shouldn't be affected that bad, but some of them would be. People tend to lock themselves into the highest standard of living they can afford.

It wouldn't be a disaster for all the tax cuts to expire, but it would be far better if the middle-class portion is extended, at least temporarily.