In 1987, Texas exported $25 billion worth of merchandise to foreign countries. Twenty-six percent, or $6.5 billion, of those exports went south to Mexico. By 1994, Texas merchandise exports to Mexico had grown to more than $18.5 billion per year (in 1987 constant dollars). Texas merchandise...

Despite Iraq's invasion of Kuwait, budgetary pressures in the United States make significant cuts in defense purchasing seem inevitable. Lori L. Taylor analyzes the employment consequences of cutting billions of dollars in defense purchasing. She finds that while certain industries and areas...

Soaring health care expenditures and the large number of uninsured Americans-now estimated at 35 million-have received much public attention in recent years. The widespread concerns have led to demands for substantial reform of the U.S. health care system. ; Beverly Fox, Lori Taylor, and Mine...

Traditionally, economists offer three broad rationales for government participation in education--market failure, externalities, and altruism. In this article, Lori Taylor describes the three rationales, discusses the economic evidence in their support, and examines their major implications for...

Savvy investors allocate their resources across different types of investments to maximize their returns; savvy societies do likewise. Just as with the private sector, society maximizes the return on its investments when risk-adjusted social rates of return equalize across all types of...

Popular wisdom and economic research suggest that the quality of the neighborhood school should be an important determinant of housing values. Many researchers have found that housing values are higher where school spending or student test scores are higher. However, few economists consider...

A key factor in forecasting a region's growth is anticipating how a region will respond to changes in national policy. One important way national policy affects a region is through real interest rates. Forecasting regional growth, therefore, requires good estimates of the interest rate...

Lori L. Taylor debunks several popular beliefs as she examines how property values relate to taxes, government services, and government debt. She finds that, contrary to popular belief, property values do not necessarily decrease when local governments increase taxes to pay for services. Her...

Developments in the distribution of income have received much attention over the past decade. Several analysts have argued that income gains have gone almost exclusively to the highest paid 20 percent of the population, leaving no gains to the remaining 80 percent. ; Joseph H. Haslag and Lori L....

Society clearly benefits when businesses compete. The social benefits of government competition are still being debated, however. A large economics literature has sprung up to explore the premise that governments facing intense competitive pressure behave differently than do governments facing...