Earlier or later in CGE-models: The case of a tax reform proposal

The German Income Tax Reform 2000 was welcomed by the public as a step towards unleashing lurking growth potentials. Nonetheless, in the course of the year 2001a dispute arose, centering around the question, whether or not the later stages of the German Income Tax Reform should be brought forward as a means of stimulating the stuttering engine of the German economy. Abstracting from the seemingly Keynesian viewpoint, we analyze the individual and social welfare effects in order to find the answer of what to do. The paper presents the welfare analysis of the early German Income Tax Reform within a simplified CGE model of the Auerbach–Kotlikoff type.