Using Danish data, we find that about three fourths of the taxes levied to finance public transfers actually finance benefits that do not redistribute between people but redistribute income over the life cycle of individual taxpayers. This provides a rationale for financing part of social...

In the modern welfare state a substantial part of an individual’s tax bill is transferred back to the same individual taxpayer in the form of social transfers. This provides a rationale for financing part of social insurance through mandatory savings accounts. We analyze the behavioral and...

This paper deals with the so-called 'double-dividend' of an environmental tax reform. We find that, in a model with only labor and a polluting input as factors of production, society faces a trade-off between internalizing environmental externalities and raising revenues in the least...

Surveys how tax policy affects the level and allocation of national saving in the U.S. Argues that the effect of taxes on the overall private saving level is relatively small and uncertain and that raising public saving is the most direct and efficient way to raise national saving.

We explore intergenerational and international risk sharing in a general equilibrium multiple-country model with two-tier pensions systems. The exact design of the pension system is key for the way in which risks are shared over generations. The laissez-faire market solution fails to provide an...

The pros and cons of institutionalized constraints limiting the freedom of national budgetary policies within an economic and monetary union in Europe are reviewed. The issue is approached from three angles: the influence of EMU on budget discipline, intergenerational equity and intertemporal...

Some new empirical evidence on the determination of long-term interest rates in the United States is presented. The empirical results generally support the view that fiscal deficits raise real long-term interest rates. The paper also discusses both theoretical considerations and other empirical...

An analysis of issues regarding the measurement of saving concludes that the observed declines in national, private, and personal saving rates in the United States cannot be attributed to measurement problems. Several factors that seem to have accounted for the decline in U.S. personal saving...

Indirect taxes are an important element in stabilization tax packages that aim to raise revenue in the short run. This paper evaluates, by using a general equilibrium model, alternative instruments of indirect taxation in middle-income developing countries. It uses data for Thailand as an...