This paper uses a new, large-scale, dynamic life-cycle simulation model to compare the welfare and macroeconomic effects of transitions to five fundamental alternatives to the U.S. federal income tax, including a proportional consumption tax and a flat tax. The model incorporates...

In both developed and developing countries, there are basically two main sources of economic instability: exogenous shocks and inappropriate policies. Exogenous shock (terms-of-trade shocks, natural disasters and capital flow reversals) can throw an economy into disequilibrium and therefore...

We provide evidence on the dynamic effects of tax liability changes in the United States. We distinguish between surprise and anticipated tax changes. Preannounced but not yet implemented tax cuts give rise to contractions in output, investment, and hours worked while real wages increase. There...

Legislative and implementation lags imply that substantial time evolves between when news arrives about fiscal changes and when the changes actually take place—time when households and firms can adjust their behavior. We identify two types of fiscal news—government spending using the Survey...

Instead of relying on descriptive statistics to evaluate the permanence of a fiscal contraction, this paper suggests that this issue should be studied using tests for structural breaks in cointegrating relationships between taxes and spending. We label a fiscal contraction as 'permanent' if a...

This paper takes a close look at the advantages and disadvantages of the flat tax and looks at its proven benefits and failings in some European countries which adopted it and its theoretical or possible effects on the economies of other European countrie

The main goal of this article is to find the relationship between public fiscal policy and economic growth. The article consist of a few parts. The first is an introduction, which creates the background for the analysis in the following sections. It shows the main point of view on public fiscal...

How do economic crisis a§ect national-level policy choices? Are technocratic advisors more likely to enter government during periods of severe economic volatility? If so, how does such governance a§ect economic policymaking and social responsiveness? In this paper, I evaluate the role of...

El propósito del presente documento es el de contribuir al debate en torno a la importancia de la política fiscal como una herramienta poderosa para la estabilización y el crecimiento económico, así como mostrar el hecho de que los déficits fiscales no son los responsables de la...