The strong rise in the U.S. stock market since the spring and the return to positive economic growth in the third quarter of this year have created a consensus among economists that the Great Recession is very likely over. Unfortunately, the end of the official recession will have little visible...

This paper examines recent economic data, including the most recent data released the third week of August 2010, in an attempt to evaluate the Venezuelan economy's prospects in the foreseeable future. It finds that the Venezuelan economy, which went into recession in the first quarter of 2009...

This paper makes the case for a third stimulus package to in the face of economic indicators signaling that the economy is in a deeper downturn than was expected based on previous projections. Specifically, the report calls for an employer tax-credit for extending health care coverage and...

This paper debates the foundations of the principles of macroeconomic policy. It traces through the development of the ideas forming the macroconomic policy and especially the cyclical transition from observance of firmly established rules to discretion and vice versa, to curbing freedom at...

Because of increasing resource prices and thus, higher export profits, resource abundant countries become more and more constrained in implementing a sustainable resource management which realizes two main objectives: The development of competitive non-oil industries and the reduction of...

While this paper tries to fill a particular niche in the literature on the tax and spend nexus of the public sector, it provides new insights on the causality between public expenditure and public revenue from a small island developing economy perspective. We apply the Johansen technique to...

Economic growth is one of the objectives of the current government. Fiscal policy, encompassing government expenditure and taxation decisions, can significantly impact on economic growth. This paper proposes a framework which views fiscal policy through three lenses and applies this approach to...

Traditional macroeconomic policy analysis asks the positive question of how the economy responds to alternative, but exogenous, policy actions or rules. Knowing these responses, the analyst can go to the normative problem of policy advice, The best action or rule is selected, given a specific...

This report presents several proposals designed to address the nation’s current economic slowdown. To blunt the effects of this downturn and provide immediate relief, the authors suggest a second stimulus package. Proposals for the package include an expanded tax credit for homes and...

Governments are constantly forced to take decisions based on estimates and forecasts derived from models whose assumptions are not reflected in the daily work of economic agents. But if the theoretical construct on which they are based is at least doubtful, how effective can an indication of...