Greg Mankiw explains:
One thing we have learned over the past couple years is that Washington is not going to let large financial institutions fail. The bailouts of the past will surely lead people to expect bailouts in the future. Bailouts are a specific type of subsidy–a contingent subsidy, but a subsidy nonetheless.
In the presence of a government subsidy, […]
Archive for the 'Taxes' Category
Jan19th2010
Nov30th2009
More On Tax Cuts Vs Fiscal Stimulus
Published by in Economics, Fiscal Stimulus, ModernPolitics and Taxes. 0 CommentsFrom Harvard’s Alberto Alesina and Silvia Ardagna:
Large changes in fiscal policy: taxes versus spending
We examine the evidence on episodes of large stances in fiscal policy, both in cases of fiscal stimuli and in that of fiscal adjustments in OECD countries from 1970 to 2007. Fiscal stimuli based upon tax cuts are more likely to increase […]
Sep24th2009
Tax Cuts Vs Fiscal Stimulus
Published by in Economics, Fiscal Stimulus, ModernPolitics and Taxes. 6 CommentsEven more proof that tax cuts are better at stimulating the economy than fiscal stimulus. Bruce Bartlett describes the recent research by Harvard economist Robert Barro:
Harvard economist Robert Barro is out with a new paper that undoubtedly will get a lot of attention from conservatives. First, he finds that the multiplier effect from government purchases is well […]
Aug4th2009
“IRS data shows that in 2007—the most recent data available—the top 1 percent of taxpayers paid 40.4 percent of the total income taxes collected by the federal government. This is the highest percentage in modern history. By contrast, the top 1 percent paid 24.8 percent of the income tax burden in 1987, the year following […]
May12th2009
“The Rich” Vs “Government”: Who Should Get More Money?
Published by in Economics, Myths, Poverty and Taxes. 4 CommentsScott Sumners, a professor of economics at Bentley University, in one of his lengthy posts, made this parenthetical statement:
[BTW, Bill Gates essentially taxed middle class consumers all over the developed world, and is giving almost all of the money to the disadvantged in poor countries. That’s something governments don’t do, and yet for his “monopoly […]
Apr2nd2009
“President Obama’s proposal to limit the tax deductibility of charitable contributions would effectively transfer more than $7 billion a year from the nation’s charitable institutions to the federal government. But the high-income taxpayers affected by the rule change are likely to cut their charitable giving by as much as the increase in their tax bills, […]
Mar16th2009
The Most Dangerous Part Of Obama’s Tax Proposals
Published by in Economics, ModernPolitics and Taxes. 0 CommentsAlvin Rabushka, an expert in taxation in the United States, alluded to it in discussing the recently passed “fiscal stimulus” bill:
There is danger lurking in this measure. The vast majority of federal income taxes is being paid by fewer and fewer households. The share of federal income taxes paid by the top 20% of all […]
Mar6th2009
Economist James Hamilton explains:
A trillion dollars is about the total amount collected in income taxes by the U.S. federal government in fiscal year 2006– $1.04 trillion, if you’re curious to use the exact number. That gives me a simple rule of thumb for personalizing these numbers. If I want to know what an additional trillion […]
Feb18th2009
Quote Of The Day
Published by in (modern day) Liberalism, Economics, ModernPolitics and Taxes. 0 Comments“Mark Thoma makes fun of Judd Gregg for thinking that tax cuts pay for themselves. Mark is right to make fun. What a ridiculous thing to believe. All the good economists know that it is spending increases that more than pay for themselves. ” –Alex Tabarrok
Dec1st2008
“What would you call a group of economists who are skeptical of regulating mortgage markets, who think unemployment insurance and unions increase unemployment, who say that tax hikes retard economic growth, and who believe that the recovery from the Great Depression was a monetary phenomenon rather than the result of New Deal fiscal policy? No, […]
Nov25th2008
Obama has picked Christina Romer to chair the CEA. Romer is a good pick who knows alot about recessions, how to fix them and macro economics in general.
However, one thing that you will probably not read in news stories on the pick is some of the work she has done. National Journal writes:
“At the same […]
Oct6th2008
The Next President Will Face A Significant Budget Crunch
Published by in Economics, ModernPolitics and Taxes. 3 CommentsThe next president of the United States, whoever that person will be, will face a significant budget crunch - so significant in fact, that many of the things he promised will have to be forfeited. Why? In addition to the budget deficits from government health care and the the Iraq war that were already […]
Sep2nd2008
“Recent research on President Bush’s tax relief in 2001 and 2003 has found that the lower tax rates induced taxpayers to report more taxable income. In particular, the reduction in the top two tax rates induced taxpayers to report more taxable income—an increase in the size of the tax base—to such an extent that this […]
Feb27th2008
The Washington Times writes:
RICHMOND — State lawmakers can rule out Virginian’s offering up more of their hard-earned money to fix the $1.4 billion budget shortfall Gov. Tim Kaine announced this week.
At least that is what a peek at the so-called “Tax Me More Fund” suggests.
Since its inception in 2002, the fund has collected a total […]
Dec13th2007
Arthur Laffer On President Clinton And The Economy
Published by in (modern day) Liberalism, Economics, General, Inequality, ModernPolitics, Poverty and Taxes. 4 CommentsI met Arthur Laffer in July of this year, at the Libertarians FreedomFest Convention in Las Vegas. I found him to be, by far, the most entertaining and provocative speaker (He is also, btw, a HUGE illegal immigration supporter). Since then, I added him to my “Must Read Anything They Write” list of economists. […]
Aug14th2007
Have you noticed that talk of the ‘looming federal deficit’ is conspicuously missing from the Democrat presidential nominees? The reason it is missing is because the federal deficit is quickly disappearing:
A month ago, the White House slashed its forecast for the 2007 deficit, saying it now expects to run a $205 billion deficit, down from […]
