The Economist.
Hi, John Prudeau here.
I host Checks and Balance, our podcast on US politics.
Welcome to Editor's Picks.
Here's an article from the latest edition of The Economist, handpicked by our team and read aloud.
I hope you enjoy it.
Beware any policy that is overwhelmingly popular.
That usually means it has not been properly scrutinised.
The latest example is taxes in America.
The country is in the grip of a bipartisan tax-cutting mania.
Tax filing season has just closed and Americans are receiving hefty refunds from Donald Trump's big,
beautiful bill, financed by trillions of dollars in deficit spending.
Not to be outdone, two Democrats in the Senate,
Cory Booker and Chris Van Hollen, have put forward their own plans which,
if implemented, would mean around 55% of tax filers would pay no federal income taxes.
Unsurprisingly, those proposals poll tremendously well.
Giveaways are always appealing and Americans are particularly disenchanted with the tax system at the moment.
Perceptions of tax fairness are at a 30-year low.
Zany ideas are bouncing around at the state level too.
See, for example, the wave of property tax exemptions for old folk or a proposal in Georgia to eliminate income taxes