This paper analyzes the Final Report of the President's National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform and compares the recommendations to those of The Debt Reduction Task Force of the Bipartisan Policy Center

The United States is currently trying to manage a fast-moving public health crisis due to the coronavirus outbreak (COVID-19). The economic and financial ramifications of the outbreak are serious. This Working Paper discusses these ramifications and identifies three interrelated but potentially...

One of the main functions of public debt is to smooth taxes and spending over time. In the Covid crisis, the Maastricht deficit restrictions were temporarily suspended to allow for large temporary deficits. As recovery sets in, countries are confronted with the task of consolidating the Covid...

Governments of EU Member States have been reducing statutory corporate income tax rates (“CIT”) for several years. What encourages them to take part in tax competition? The article discusses several issues which are in favor of lower CIT rates. They are selected based on their relevance. The...

The common VAT system adopted by EU member states comprises a set of various rates, which differentiate the goods and services subject to this tax. However, from a technical and management point of view, it would be preferable to adopt a single tax rate as it reduces distortions and facilitates...

This paper analyses value-added tax (VAT), with special emphasis on efficiency in the EU-28 Member States and Turkey, over the period from 2009 to 2013. From the results of the analysis, we concluded that, the highest efficiency ratio (50.8) was recorded in Croatia in 2013. This indicates that...

Due to input-output linkages, an industry level shock can widely transmit to the rest of the economy. We identify government policies on the automobile industry, which change final prices and estimate their effect on sales and production. An example could be the scrappage schemes that many...

The stance of fiscal policy in Germany changed in the course of 1999. Government expenditures were cut, significant tax reductions are intended. Fiscal policy fosters the growth of the economy. However, the tax cuts are by far not as large as is often argued; the plan to reform profit taxation...

The existing theoretical literature on fiscal competition has to a large extent ignored the role of government debt as a determinant of taxes and productive public spending. We develop a simple model of fiscal competition with government borrowing. If a default on government debt is no option,...