Michael Ferguson reports that, to hear supporters tell it, tax cuts are the answer to all that ails Idaho and will launch a golden era of commerce and employment growth. But if you asked them for proof, they’d have a hard time finding it.

Idaho’s history tells a very different story. The simple truth is taxes pay for public services that benefit both businesses and households, and the vast majority of those services make people and businesses more productive. When we cut taxes, we starve that part of our economy.   This is a good bargain only if the resources left in private hands are more productive than the resources taken from essential services. Our experience shows it’s a bad bargain.