The Fiscal Cliff Has Been Avoided, But at What Cost? Some thoughts on the new fiscal agreement: The economy needs a stimulus, but under the agreement, taxes will go up in 2013 relative to 2012 -- not only on high-income households, as widely discussed, but also on every working man and woman in the country, via the end of the payroll tax cut. For most households, the payroll tax takes a far bigger bite than the income tax does, and the payroll tax cut therefore -- as CBO and others have … [Read more...]