This paper presents a list of the top 20 articles published in the <em>American Economic Review</em> during its first 100 years. This list was assembled in honor of the <em>AER</em>'s one-hundredth anniversary by a group of distinguished economists at the request of <em>AER</em>'s editor. A brief description accompanies...

This paper shows that, when future earnings are uncertain, the substitution of deficit fin ance for tax finance (or the introduction of an unfunded social secur ity program) can raise consumption even if all bequests reflect inter generational altruism. An operative bequest motive therefore need...

This paper examines the effect of existing college scholarship rules on the incentive to save. The analysis shows that families that are eligible for college scholarships face 'education tax rates' on capital income of between 22 percent and 47 percent in addition to regular federal and state...