Actually Trumponomics is bad. Worse than bad. Even taken as an aspirational goal or negotiating position rather than a real-world blueprint — which it almost surely is not — the plan is an intellectually dishonest one. It makes mockery of the idea that the U.S. economy needs realistic tax reform to increase its growth potential. And by embracing the plan at all, supply-siders give aid and comfort to those who wish the U.S. had a tax burden more like Scandinavia or continental Europe. See, Republicans and conservatives don’t really care about economic growth or fiscal responsibility, they can say with greater authority, only about lowering rates for the rich…

Maybe the best case scenario here is that this tax-driven embrace of Trumpism finally ends the dominance of old-school supply-siderism on GOP economic thinking. Imagine a future Republican presidential primary where it isn’t always 1980, where candidates don’t feel compelled to play ersatz Reagan and offer fantasy tax plans as the price of admission. Imagine candidates competing to have the most detailed, evidence-backed plan to improve higher education or reduce poverty. Maybe then “supply-side” reform to boost the labor supply and innovation can mean something broader that mega-tax cuts: regulatory reform, education, and public investment in basic research and infrastructure. And America can again have an effective center-right party.