Marc Gerson discusses President Obama’s proposed tax increase on foreign profits of U.S. multinationals included in the budget the President delivered to Congress. Gerson says that taking away tax advantages now offered to U.S. multinational firms might harm those firms' ability to compete globally. "The current system allows them to effectively re-deploy foreign earnings, or competitively price contracts," he comments. But Gerson adds that the overall impact on U.S. businesses from the tax-increase proposal would depend on whether the revenue is used to lower the corporate tax rate, or to fund unrelated spending. "If you took that and significantly lowered the rate, that to me is a debate worth having," Gerson says.

The article also appeared in Dow Jones Newswire.