This paper decomposes productivity growth across highly developed OECD countries in the period 1972-2000 into components attributable to domestic R&D output, a catchup effect, and international technology diffusion via imports of hi-tech products. Two alternative specifications of...

One of the items that Congress added to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, President Obama’s stimulus package, was a first-time homebuyer tax credit. The tax credit gave people buying their first home, or who had not been homeowners for at least three years, a tax credit equal...

With Spain’s official unemployment rate at 26 percent, and the economy projected to contract by 1.3 percent this year, it is difficult to make the case for continued austerity that could push a barely growing economy back into recession. Yet the government is committed to further fiscal...