The relationship between the unemployment rate and the nonaccelerating inflation rate of unemployment (NAIRU) is presumed to be an inflationary bellwether, but recent inflation predictions based on it have not been successful. The authors explore the reasons for this failure and suggest that it...

Do countries that inhibit the quick integration of new technologies pay a price in slower economic growth? This commentary suggests they do. Focusing on the level of Internet use to indicate the absorption rate of emerging computer technologies, the authors argue that faster technology...

A review of the theoretical and empirical case for disinflationary economic growth, showing that, contrary to popular wisdom, it is quite possible to have a booming economy without an acceleration in the price level.

A review of the connection between labor resource utilization and the growth/unemployment correlation summarized by Okun's law, showing that the instability of that relationship, particularly over short time horizons, has important implications for monetary policy.

A presentation of a large-scale, dynamic simulation model for comparing the equity, efficiency, and macroeconomic effects of five alternatives to the current U.S. federal income tax: a proportional income tax, a proportional consumption tax, a flat tax, a flat tax with transition relief, and a...

An argument that variations of extant general-equilibrium monetary models can generate real-time economic forecasts comparable in accuracy to those contained in the Federal Reserve Board's "Greenbook" briefing documents.

A proposal for a U.S. Social Security reform that gradually, but ultimately fully, privatizes the system. This proposal follows the no-harm, no-foul principle in that it preserves the benefits of older generations and yet promises the same or higher retirement benefits for the young.

An Auerbach-Kotlikoff (AK) overlapping-generations model is used to examine how changes in marginal income-tax rate structures affect the distribution of income, drawing on actual changes to the U.S. tax code. This approach builds on AK by allowing for many different cohort types, and hence for...

An examination of the inflation-indexing provisions contained in the Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981 and the Tax Reform Act of 1986.

Using the well-known dynamic fiscal policy framework pioneered by Auerbach and Kotlikoff, we examine the efficiency and welfare implications of shifting from a linear marginal tax rate structure to a discrete rate structure characterized by two regions of flat tax rates of 15 and 28 percent. For...