Thank you both for your presentations. They were very thoughtful and very useful, and a good lead for our study.
I'll start with Professor Kesselman.
A consumption tax seems to be regarded by most economists as the last tax that you would reduce. What is difficult to explain in the public is why you would reduce any other tax first, before you'd reduce a consumption tax. As I understand it, it has something to do with a multiplier effect, the benefit of tax moneys floating in the system, and the productivity enhancements that are gained by reducing corporate taxes or reducing personal income taxes rather than consumption taxes.
I wonder if you could, first of all, for the purposes of the committee, explain the multiplier effect. If I have time after that, there are a couple of other questions I want to go with.