On Friday’s broadcast of Bloomberg’s “Balance of Power,” Rep. Jake Auchincloss (D-MA) stated that increasing taxes on college endowments wouldn’t make any sense since we’re trying to compete with China on research and development.
Co-host Kailey Leinz said, [relevant exchange begins around 4:30] “[W]e understand Republicans are looking at a tax hike of a different kind, as well, as part of this package, potentially raising the endowment tax to as high as 21%. I’m asking you this, not just as a sitting Congressman, but also a graduate of Harvard College, knowing the kind of tension that exists between Harvard and other elite higher educational institutions and this administration, I wonder what you make of that policy in particular.”
Auchincloss answered, “At a time when we’re trying to compete against China’s R&D enterprise, at a time when China is making massive generational investments in biotech, in quantum, in AI, in cyber, taxing our research and development powerhouses makes no sense. And it’s coupled with the president’s halving of the National Institutes of Health budget, it’s coupled with his attacks on high-skilled immigrant talent, he is undermining the sinews of our science and technology edge, and all it’s going to do is reduce standards of living and let the Chinese take the lead in the inventions that define global economic dominance.”
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