We present a novel argument demonstrating that when trade is characterized by uncertainty the comparative advantages doctrine is misleading and a positive level of diversification is growth enhancing. Applying a result developed in the mathematical biological literature, we show that, in...

We conduct a comprehensive survey that asks CPAs and other tax professionals to describe their opinions about the continuance of "temporary" provisions in the tax code. Our objective is to see if the multiple extensions of many of these temporary provisions have led CPAs to conclude that these...

It has become conventional wisdom, based partly on postulated portfolio adjustments by investors in risky assets, (1) to view an income tax as equivalent to a tax levied only on the risk free return to capital and as therefore equivalent to a wealth tax; and (2) to view the difference between an...

High oil prices and politics periodically elicit calls for more U.S. oil exploration in ecologically sensitive areas, in particular, Alaska's ANWR coastal plain with its large reserves. Though ANWR survived untouched from the elections and high prices in 2008, President Obama's recent proposal...

We present a novel argument demonstrating that when trade is characterized by uncertainty the comparative advantages doctrine is misleading and a positive level of diversification is growth enhancing. Applying a result developed in the mathematical biological literature, we show that, in...

We apply an unsupervised machine learning algorithm to revisit legislative lags of U.S. tax reforms and show that at least two lags have been longer than previously identified. Our approach offers an alternative way to approximate U.S. tax foresight, given that the relationship between tax...

“Prices versus quantities” (Weitzman 1974), a hugely influential paper, is widely cited (and taught) in current debates about the best policy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The paper’s criterion for ranking policies suggests that technological uncertainty favors taxes over cap and...

Under asymmetric information between firms and a regulator, intertemporal trade of pollution permits can increase welfare relative to both emissions taxes and cap and trade (quotas). In the subgame perfect equilibrium, banking and borrowing dominates taxes and quotas for a large region of...

The expected utility formulation of the problem of a risk-averse agent's allocating a portfolio between a safe and a risky asset is widely taken as standing for the proposition that if α* ε (0, 1) is the optimal allocation to the risky asset in the absence of tax, α*/(1-t) is the optimal...

The expected utility formulation of the problem of a risk-averse agent's allocating a portfolio between a safe and a risky asset is widely taken as standing for the proposition that if α* ε (0, 1) is the optimal allocation to the risky asset in the absence of tax, α*/(1-t) is the optimal...