A recent Congressional Research Service report, withdrawn under pressure from Congressional Republicans, found that changes in the top income-tax rate and the rate on capital gains had no discernible effect on economic growth during the last half-century. A recent review of the economic literature by three distinguished academics found no convincing evidence that real economic activity responds materially to tax-rate changes on top income earners, although such changes do affect their tax-avoidance behavior.
迫于国会共和党人压力撤回的一份最新国会研究服务报告表明高等级所得税率及资本收益税率的变化对过去半个世纪的经济增长并未产生显著效果。尽管三位著名学者对经济文献的最新研究发现高收入者的税收变化的确影响到他们的避税行为，但却没有令人信服的证据表明上述变化会显著影响到实际经济活动。因此奥巴马提出年底终止高收入纳税人的减税政策不会影响经济增长并非没有依据。