The release of Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s tax returns has once again sparked debate about taxing carried interest at ordinary income rates or at the lower capital gains rate.

In The Wall Street Journal “Big Issues” debate “Should Carried Interest Be Taxed as Ordinary Income, Not as Capital Gains?” David Tuerck, chairman of the Economics Department and executive director of the Beacon Hill Institute, takes the negative position.

“There are serious practical implications for the nation’s economy,” says Tuerck. He points out that a higher tax rate would cause “less money being invested in starting or reviving companies that provide a significant number of jobs – and fewer profits being generated for the government to collect taxes on.”