"Investment" and Obama's First Budget : The Government We Deserve

President-elect Obama's chief in-house economic advisor Larry Summers suggests in a recent Washington Post piece that the new Administration will put a lot of effort into...

"Sticks" or Mandates to Buy Health Insurance: Is Health Reform Possible Without Them? : The Government We Deserve

In a letter to top Senate Democrats, President Obama recently stated that he was open to the "principle of shared responsibilitymaking every American responsible for...

A Blueprint for Tax Reform and Health Reform

This paper outlines a plan for a VAT dedicated to paying for a new universal health insurance voucher combined with a vastly simplified and much flatter income tax. Top...

A New April 15: Make It a Day of Giving (Efficiently)

President Barack Obama on January 22 signed into law a provision allowing charitable gifts made for Haiti relief during February and most of January 2010 to be deducted on...

Activist Fiscal Policy to Stabilize Economic Activity

Facing the most severe recession since the 1930s, and probably the longest as well, the U.S. government has adopted an aggressive countercyclical fiscal policy stance,...

Addressing Short- and Long-Term Fiscal Challenges : Testimony before the Senate Budget Committee

The prevalent theme in recent discussions of stimulus is that the risk of doing too little exceeds the risk that we shall do too much. But we must ask how much of too...

Addressing the Nation's Contradictory Fiscal Challenges : Statement before Committee on the Budget, United States Senate

In testimony before the Senate Budget Committee, UI's president and former director of the Congressional Budget Office, discusses remedies for the nation's two serious...

Age Rating Under Comprehensive Health Care Reform: : Implications for Coverage, Costs, and Household Financial Burdens

Congressional proposals health care reform proposals have differed in the premium rating rules that would be applied to non-elderly adults. Some have proposed allowing...

AMT Coverage by State, 2007

Many taxpayers must calculate their federal income tax liability under two sets of rules: those applying to the regular income tax and those of the alternative minimum...

An Analysis of Potential Tax Incentives to Increase Charitable Giving in Puerto Rico : Final Report

Improved incentives for private charitable giving would strengthen nonprofit organizations in Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico's income tax allows itemizers to deduct charitable...