In 2011 the Wisconsin state legislature adopted the Manufacturing and Agriculture Credit (MAC), an important policy change bearing on two issues of current national importance: the state of American manufacturing and the impact of tax reform. Phased in from 2013-2016, the MAC now nearly eliminates the state tax liability for manufacturing and agricultural businesses, crucial sectors employing one in five workers in Wisconsin. Through the pending Center for Research on the Wisconsin Economy (CROWE) at UW-Madison, a recent study suggests that manufacturing is a competitive industry which is sensitive to tax changes, and the reductions in taxes on manufacturing led to job substantial growth that spilled over to the broader economy. While we must be careful in extrapolating these results, they suggest that tax reform could lead to significant gains nationwide.

Read the guest column on Forbes.com.