Corporate tax rates among industrialized nations have been declining steadily since the mid 1980s. Theories of globalization, capital mobility and tax competition have been proposed to explain these changes. Less attention has been paid to the changes in corporate tax receipts during this period...

This article explores recent evidence on the relationship between the corporate statutory tax rate and corporate tax receipts among developed economies and then discusses the potential efficiency gains from a large reduction in the corporate tax rate

The Senate Finance Committee has concluded its consideration of the America's Healthy Future Act of 2009. The legislation intends to address a number of policy objectives, but one overriding concern is controlling the rising cost of health care. As a recent White House report notes, "Americans...

This article discusses the trade-offs surrounding tax efficiency and economic uncertainty through a case study discussion of Southgate Master Fund v. United States, a case involving the tax treatment of a distressed asset debt (DAD) transaction in 2002, and a legislative change to that treatment...

The US tax code has eroded over time with the explosion of endless special provisions, such as distortionary deductions and ineffective credits. Now is the time to take a good look at reforming it. This Outlook outlines six simple — and bipartisan — changes to the tax code that can help the...

This working paper analyzes a large subset of 2009 Medicaid drug data from the Medicaid drug program and identifies twenty popular multi-source drugs (that is, prescription drugs for which both brand and generic versions are available) for which there are significant sales of the more costly...

Recognizing the unsustainable fiscal outlook facing the United States, the authors present a plan to constrain the growth of federal spending and reform the tax system to promote economic growth. The plan replaces the income tax system with a progressive consumption tax, eliminating the bias...

This paper consists of three parts. First, I review the legislative history related to the enactment of two major tax cut proposals during George W. Bush's presidency, the first in 2001 and the second in 2003. Second, I present results from a simple tax calculator that calculates the expected...

he U.S. income tax system, which collected $1.5 trillion in receipts in fiscal year 2007, has, as its principal base, wage income plus the income from capital. To understand how the tax code affects the macro economy, one must understand how taxing wages affects work and how taxing capital...

While there has been much discussion in the media about the potential long-term negative impact of some healthcare reform proposals pending in Congress on the U.S. fiscal deficit, there has been scant attention paid to the potential impact of the recently enacted stimulus bill on the long-term...