A common critique of most measures of income inequality, which are based on a single year's income, is that they fail to take account of income mobility. If income fluctuations are large, and individuals can smooth consumption, then high inequality and high mobility may be no worse than low...

Do income taxes levied at a state or regional level affect the after-tax distribution of income? Or do workers merely move between regions, causing pre-tax wages to adjust? This question is relevant both in across states in the United States, and across countries within the European Union. Using...

This paper examines the effective tax rates faced by low income working families. The effective tax rate (ETR) is a generic concept which encompasses both tax payable and also loss of benefits as income rises.

Recent reforms in New Zealand have focused attention on the achievement of well-specific objectives for monetary and fiscal policy. The Reserve Bank Act requires that monetary policy be directed towards maintenance of inflation in the 0-2 per cent range. The Fiscal Responsibility Act specifies a...

This paper considers the existence of a path of GDP corresponding to steady inflation in the prices of domestic goods. We estimate the steady inflation rate of growth, denoted the SIRG, at a little over 4 per cent per annum in the post-float period. Changes in inflation are modelled as a...

This paper critiques the arguments put by the Howard Government for an unadulterated, flat rate GST policy, by taking the characterisation of the current wholesale sales tax (WST) as an outdated tax without design or logic, ans showing this view to be historically wrong and superficial. It does...

There is some concern that immigration contributes to a larger current account deficit in a net borrowing country like Australia. The reason is believed to be that the immigrants on balance have a lower net saving than those born in the country.

Since ancient times, governments have regulated the extent and conditions under which gambling is permitted. Governments also developed an early financial interest in legalising gambling, realising that certain forms of gambling were a productive base for taxation. These dual roles of government...