What if Clinton's 1993 tax increase never happened?

[Mr.Phips]

I am wondering what would have happened to the economy in 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, ect. had Congress refused to pass Clinton's tax plan that increased the top tax rate from 31% to 36% and 39.6%.  Would the bond market have crashed?  Would interest rates have risen, causing a new recession in 1995 or 1996? 

[Beet]

No the economy would still have recovered only we would be in an even worse fiscal position today.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

Even more irrational exuberance before things fall apart.

[opebo]

The economy would not have been much different, but the underlying inequality would have been even greater.  Jfern's right it would have added just a bit to the inequality-based asset bubbles.

Taxation (at least the income tax alone) is less important than spending, and spending during the 1990s was very, very regressive.

[Mr.Phips]

Many believe that the 1993 Clinton budget were the reason why long term interest rates were held low in the 1990's and helped the economy.  If this tax increase didnt happen, would there have been a budget surplus later in the decade?

[phk]

The run up in 1995-2000 would have been insane.