Mitt Romney and President Obama released dueling tax overhaul proposals on Wednesday, touching off a fresh election-year debate over the federal deficit and the taxes paid by wealthy individuals and companies.

Interest rates are still at historic lows. Real estate prices remain depressed in many areas. As you look forward to summer, you may be wondering whether this would be an opportune time to get a bargain on a vacation property that you could enjoy with your family while earning some rental income.

On a call with reporters, Glenn Hubbard, the Columbia economist who is one of Mitt Romney’s top economic advisers, described the Romney campaign’s latest tax proposal in unusually evocative terms. “If you take the spending and tax pieces together, it’s a narrative of the policy agenda and life under a Romney presidency,” Hubbard said. And so it is. But if you really follow the numbers, and the policies they imply, it may not be the narrative the Romney campaign wants.