With graduation season nearly finished, another cohort of young workers is set to enter the labor force. Members of this cohort confront an immense challenge in planning for retirement: There is a great deal of uncertainty about the Social Security taxes and benefits they will face.

An individual-based tax system helps resolve a number of fairness concerns by treating all individuals equally, regardless of marital status.

Should the US tax code treat people as families, as it currently does, or as individuals? This paper considers the costs and benefits of switching to a tax system based on individual, rather than family, income.

Phase-outs out of government benefits are well-intentioned: they aim to ensure that the rich do not benefit from programs intended for the poor and middle-class. However, they result in a complex, nontransparent tax and transfer system that punishes work and traps many low-income families in poverty. Reform should aim to provide support for needy Americans while preserving work incentives.

This article discusses the role of both average and marginal tax rates throughout the income distribution. Our analysis relies on optimal tax theory, which allows us to study the trade-off between two of the main goals of policymakers: progressivity and economic efficiency.

At this event, an expert panel will discuss ways to restructure Social Security and Medicare to improve work incentives, fairness, and solvency.

Some simple policy fixes can help create real fairness. But these reforms will mean tax and entitlement changes and more mothers working outside the home.

In his State of the Union speech, President Obama urged Congress to "act soon to protect future generations." He was talking about addressing environmental issues. But there's an easier, more obvious step we can take to improve the lives of our children and grandchildren. We can act now to fix Social Security.

Yesterday, the Congressional Budget Office’s budget and economic outlook predicted that the federal government will end this fiscal year $845 billion in the red.But what is the real cost of continuing to accumulate debt?In a new article based on an American Enterprise Institute study,...

A Greek-style catastrophe may not be right around the corner, but high debt levels are still a problem.