The question of fiscal sustainability of countries has become one of the central topics in economic policy, especially in times of increasing public debts. One way to assess fiscal sustainability is to examine compliance with the intertemporal budget constraint, which involves testing the...

This Article explores the relationship between taxes and inter-generational equity. At the outset, Part I of the Article provides an overview of sustainable inter-generational justice and tax policy. Part II then provides an overview of the U.S. tax system, deficits, and public debt. Part III...

We examine a large set of economic, sociopolitical, and institutional variables in a panel of 57 developed and developing countries over the period of 1970-90 to derive robust conclusions about which variables are important in explaining cross-country differences in public sector deficits....

We examine a large set of economic, sociopolitical, and institutional variables in a panel of 57 developed and developing countries over the period of 1970-90 to derive robust conclusions about which variables are important in explaining cross-country differences in public sector deficits....

Joseph Fishkin’s new book, Bottlenecks, reinvigorates the concept of equal opportunity by simultaneously engaging with its complications and attempting to simplify its ambitions. Fishkin describes bottlenecks as narrow spaces in the opportunity structure through which people must pass if they...

This paper investigates the heterogenous effects of budget balance rules on fiscal policy in a large sample of countries. To derive country-specific treatment effects of fiscal rules and conduct inference, we use a Synthetic Difference-in-Differences Method. Our results indicate that countries...

In 2015, the federal budget was executed with a deficit of 2.7% of GDP (in 2014, 0.5% of GDP). Compared to 2014, revenues have fallen significantly – by 2.0 p.p. of GDP, expenditure volume has gone up slightly – by 0.2 p.p. of GDP. The year 2016 and the following medium-term period can...

The idea of reducing insurance contributions from the current 30% to 21–22% while raising the VAT rate from 18% to 21–22% has been debated a lot since late in 2016. It is assumed that such a tax manoeuvre can reduce domestic producers' labour costs, and neither exporters nor investments will...

This paper discusses an alternative route to a balanced budget, namely through debt control. Two models are compared: the debt brake which has been used in Switzerland since 2003 and the debt limitation model proposed by Compact for America. The paper concludes that the former, while apparently...

In this study we argue that the U.S. should follow the Swiss precedent, restoring a strong fiscal federalist system, with fiscal autonomy for state and local governments. A ‘no-bailout' principle should be restored, such that state as well as local governments are subject to bankruptcy laws....