It gets a little complicated, but we’re going to drill down into some new economic data from two new analyses, showing that contrary to what Mitt Romney and his economic hatchet man Paul Ryan claim, ending the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy will not, repeat, will not hurt the economy or job growth.

One new study, by economist Owen Zidar of the University of California, looked at the history of tax cuts for the top 10% compared to tax cuts aimed to middle- and lower-income families in the 90% of taxpayers.  

In a nutshell, tax cuts for those at the top had no significant positive or negative impact, but those for the rest of us (the 90%) had a multiplier effect. In Zidar’s words:

A one percent GDP tax cut for the bottom 90 percent results in 2.7 percentage points of GDP growth over a two-year period. The corresponding estimate for the top 10 percent is 0.2 percentage points and is insignificant statistically.

Zidar also looked at the impact of tax cuts for the rich on job growth. Remember, that’s the center piece of the Romney-Ryan jobs package. They tout that tax cuts for the rich—the so-called “job creators”—will mean a plethora of new jobs for the nation, maybe even the 47%, who they claim are living on "government handouts." Wrong again, says Zidar.  

He found a 1% of GDP tax cut for the 90% created a 1.9% growth in employment, but tax cuts for the wealthy resulted in only a 0.4% jump in job growth.     

For those of you who want the cold, hard statistical explanation, read the full "Tax Cuts for Whom? Heterogeneous Macroeconomic Effects of Income & Payroll Tax Changes."

Meanwhile, the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service (CRS) examined 65 years of tax policy on the wealthy—including high tax rates on income and capital gains—and found that there is no connection between lowering taxes on the wealthy and economic growth. During that time period, the top marginal tax rate was 90% and the tax on capital gains was as high as 35%. Today, they dropped to 35% and 15%, respectively. Says the CRS report:

There is not conclusive evidence, however, to substantiate a clear relationship between the 65-year steady reduction in the top tax rates and economic growth….Analysis of such data suggests the reduction in the top tax rates have had little association with saving, investment, or productivity growth.   

Read the full report: "Taxes and the Economy—An Economic Analysis of Top Tax Rates Since 1945."