The author assesses the region's future and identifies policies that might improve the local outlook. He acknowledges that substantial cuts in the local tax burden could increase growth but doubts whether local governments could afford such widespread reductions. Instead, he argues, it would be...

This article describes methods used in the field of spatial economics that combine insights from economic theory and evidence from data in order to answer counter- factual questions. I outline a general framework that emphasizes three elements: a specific question to be answered, a set of...

We consider taxation by a Leviathan government and by a utilitarian government in the presence of heterogeneous locations within a country, when migration from one country to another is and is not possible. In a closed economy, a utilitarian government may transfer income from the poor to the...