Tax policy is one of the issues that separate Barack Obama and John McCain.  The latest issue of Barron’s suggests voters should be cautious, if they hear a candidate talk about tax cuts.

The magazine says “true, long term tax reductions don’t exist for society as a whole.”  It goes on to say that, in spite of some cuts, local, state, and federal taxes are now at “one of the highest levels in decades.”  The Barron’s analysis recalls the principle that tax reductions in one area lead to higher levies in another — or the idea that there’s no tax cut when government spending exceeds the rate of inflation.

“By this standard,” Barron’s concludes, “there have been no real federal tax reductions in over the past half century.  And, if past is prologue, the chances of our next president enacting true tax cuts seems rather bleak.”