In relation to an evolving labor market, the main focus of this paper is to examine whether the traditional model of higher education is effectively matching graduate skills to labor market demand. In light of a growing student debt burden and proposals for significant expansions in higher...

Proposals for raising the maximum statutory tax rate to 70 percent, with dual objectives of generating additional revenue for new spending and curtailing inequality, are gaining attention among both academics and media commentators. While the idea might be superficially attractive, there is...

This policy brief will assess the underlying problems with the United States' budgetary process and the issues that arise as a result of the country's current fiscal trajectory. We explore the role that spending rules play in restraining the growth of government spending wherever they are...

In light of these proposals, one of which would increase federal aid funding by $100 billion over 10 years, we review the current state of affairs in higher education, the impact that increased federal aid has had so far, and whether more federal aid is the correct treatment for the problem of...

This policy brief will focus on the underlying causes of declining discretion in policy-making: specifically, the unsustainable growth of mandatory spending programs rooted in a rapidly aging population. We will discuss how this phenomenon will lead effectively to the end of policy-making in a...

Over the past three decades, more than a dozen developed nations have abandoned their wealth taxes. Yet the United States today finds itself in the midst of a political debate about implementing a wealth tax to partially fund the spending commitments of progressive presidential hopefuls. The...

In this policy brief, we review the literature on the debt-growth relationship since the publication of “Growth in a Time of Debt” to evaluate the claim that high government-debt-to-GDP ratios have negative or significant (or both) effects on the growth rate of an economy. In addition, we...

In this policy brief we discuss what economists know (and don’t know) about fiscal spending multipliers. We then review the growing economic literature on the relationship between the fiscal position and the size of the fiscal multiplier. In addition, we explore the inflationary risks that...

A growing number of economists hold the view that the US government’s growing debt is nothing to worry about. They believe this because real interest rates are not only historically low but are also forecast to stay low for a long time. As such, the government can carry high debt levels...

This study reviews the applicability of new definitions of fiscal sustainability that place greater emphasis on the historical trend of falling nominal interest rates. We explore how these now-broadly applied definitions are misleading and potentially dangerous. In addition, it is important to...