Moving toward a Unified Credit for Low-Income Workers

The maze of tax credits that are typically available to low-income individuals under the tax code needs simplifying.

Moving Towards a Unified Credit for Low Income Workers

Replacing all of the seven different tax credits allowed under the current tax code with a simple policy holds significant promise.

Medical Debt: Is Our Healthcare System Bankrupting Americans?

The most effective solution to the problem of rising bankruptcies in these tough economic times is to help families keep their jobs, retain their earning power, stay in their homes, and live within their means.

A Fat Tax That's Hard to Swallow

Your beverage might soon contain the cost of universal health care.

The Consumer Burden of a Carbon Tax on Gasoline

This paper measures the incidence of a carbon tax on gasoline using current income and two measures of lifetime income to rank households.

The Consumer Burden of a Cap-and-Trade Program to Cut Carbon Dioxide Emissions

The higher costs of production will translate to higher energy and product prices.

Cap-and-Stick-It-to-All

The conventional wisdom is wrong: cap-and-trade will affect all consumers nationwide with little to distinguish the burden across regions.

The Consumer Burden of a Cap-and-Trade Program to Cut Carbon Dioxide Emissions

Cap and trade may be superior to command-and-control regulatory approaches, but it is not necessarily superior to other alternatives, such as a carbon tax.

Indirect Energy and Your Wallet

The average household spends nearly as much on the consumption of indirect energy as it does on direct energy consumption.

Don't Follow Our Example, Either

Vigorous market competition for self-paying consumers may lead to more effective self-regulation and better health care options.

The Consumer Burden of a Cap-and-Trade System with Freely Allocated Permits

One critical economic question surrounding cap-and-trade is how to distribute the permits.

Measuring and Reducing Americans' Indirect Energy Use

The good news for those who want to reduce energy consumption but cannot make major lifestyle changes is that there are unexplored options for reducing energy use.

Health Insurance and Job Creation by the Self-Employed

What effects do health insurance mandates have on the size of small businesses?

Courting Trouble on Patents

The controversial Patent Reform Act would be costly and counterproductive.

A Spatial Model of the Impact of Bankruptcy Law on Entrepreneurship

The predicted probability of starting a business is 25 percent higher in states with higher bankruptcy exemptions than their neighbors relative to states with lower exemptions than their neighbors.

Shooting Uncle Sam in the Foot

Few additional workers would actually be eligible forextended unemploymentbenefits, and the incentives created by extending them could do long-term harm to the economy.

The Incidence of a U.S. Carbon Tax

Carbon taxes are more regressive when annual income is used as a measure of economic welfare than when proxies for lifetime income are used.

Predicting Tax Reform

Despite the frequency of tax changes and their potential importance to investors, there has been relatively little modeling of anticipated tax changes.

Maxing Out on Debt Hysteria

The American household is better off financially than you may think, especially given the media frenzy over rising consumer debt.

Foreign Investors Prefer Predictability to Democracy

A study of recent investment flows says that being a democracy may actually make it harder for a developing country to attract capital from abroad.

Foreign Direct Investment, Corruption, and Democracy

How are factors such as corruption perception and the level of democracy influencing foreign direct investment to developing economies?

An Empirical Analysis of Middle Class Welfare

Does the Census Bureau's annual population survey present an accurate picture?

Forgive Us Our Debts

Lenient bankruptcy laws encourage people to start businesses. We need to send the message that it’s O.K. to fail.

Of Growth and Gaps

Most of the mainstream media have consistently characterized the current U.S. economy as rewarding the rich at the expense of everyone else.

Conspicuous Consumption

The proof is in the pudding: The times are better than they used to be. The middle class is flourishing and optimistic.

Medical Bills and Bankruptcy Filings

To what extent are consumer bankruptcy filings induced by high levels of medical debt?

Taxes and Wages

To what are wage rates responsive? Does labor bear the burden of taxes?

Health Insurance and Job Creation by the Self-Employed

Are rising health insurance costs a serious problem for small businesses?

Taxes and Wages

What is the link between taxes and manufacturing wages?

Corporate Income Taxation and the Economy

The Consumer Burden of a Cap-and-Trade Program to Cut Carbon Dioxide Emissions

Cap and trade may be superior to command-and-control regulatory approaches, but it is not necessarily superior to other alternatives, such as a carbon tax.