Die Weltkonjunktur zeigt sich im Frühsommer 2003 leicht aufwärtsgerichtet. Zu einer durchgreifenden Erholung ist es bisher noch nicht gekommen. Belastend wirkten insbesondere die Irak-Krise, der zwischenzeitliche Höhenflug des Erdölpreises, der Ausbruch der Lungenkrankheit SARS sowie die...

"Researchers in Germany have nowadays access to confidential micro data compiled from official statistics in a way that could not have been dreamt of just a few years ago. This paper describes the new institutions that grant data access - most importantly the research data centers located inside...

USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) finances about 13.5 percent of its budget outlays through user fees for overtime and unscheduled meat and poultry inspections. User fees play an increasingly important role in financing government programs, and FSIS has frequently requested...

This paper presents an analysis of what is termed “geo-rent,†what the plot-devoid-of-improvements would rent for in an auction. Most of the public finance literature and current thought has disvalued and misunderstood the actual and potential role of land and its rent for public...

The approaches and opinions of economists often dominate public policy discussion. Economists have gained this privileged position partly (or perhaps mainly) because of the obvious relevance of their subject matter, but also because of the unified methodology (neo-classical economics) that the...

Taxation has been a much-discussed subject in the literature on economics and in writings on the role and meaning of the state. Over the centuries, many authors have put forward views of what qualifies as "good" taxation and what constitutes undesirable tax policy. Consensus on these issues has...