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Freakonomics Radio

Ten Myths About the U.S. Tax System (Update)

4/8/20261 hr 4 min

Nearly everything that politicians say about taxes is at least half a lie. They are also dishonest when it comes to the national debt. In this update of an episode from 2025, Stephen Dubner finds one of the few people in Washington who is willing to tell the truth — and it’s even worse than you think.

 

  • SOURCES:

    • Jessica Riedl, budget and tax fellow at the Brookings Institution.

 

 

 

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Clips

Showing 10 of 12
Seizing Billionaires Still Isn’t Enough
Why Trump’s Plan Pumps Inflation
Tax Cuts Rarely Pay Themselves
America’s Middle Class Under-Taxed?
Calling Out Bush Spending
Interest Costs Overtake Medicare
Both Sides’ Favorite Tax Myths
“How Do Inmates Lock The Asylum?”
Millionaires And Social Security
When Idealists Become Hacks

Transcript preview

First 90 seconds

  1. Speaker 00:00

    Imagine yourself in Ottawa, surrounded by thousands of vibrant tulips.

  2. Jessica Riedl· Guest0:04

    Oh.

  3. Speaker 00:05

    And discovering your new favorite microbrew- Ah. Before cycling along scenic bike paths- Oh. And wandering through a museum in awe.

  4. Jessica Riedl· Guest0:13

    Ah.

  5. Speaker 00:13

    Adventure awaits in Ottawa, from oh to ah. Plan your getaway at ottawatourism.ca.

  6. Stephen Dubner· Host0:20

    [upbeat jingle] Hey there. It's Stephen Dubner, and where I live, it is springtime. That's when a lot of people start thinking about two of our national pastimes, baseball and paying taxes. This year, both of these pastimes have some rule changes. Major League Baseball has finally allowed the use of computers to keep human umpires from making bad calls on balls and strikes. And in tax matters, we have a variety of changes brought about by President Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which was signed last year. Today on Freakonomics Radio, we don't have a baseball episode for you, but we do have a tax episode. This is an update of an episode we made last year with Jessica Riedel, a tax policy expert who had published her list of the top 10 tax myths. In the episode you're about to hear, we have updated facts and figures as needed, and at the end, you will hear from Riedel about what's changed since then. As always, thanks for listening. [upbeat music] In Washington, D.C., there is a set of people

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