Do countries that inhibit the quick integration of new technologies pay a price in slower economic growth? This commentary suggests they do. Focusing on the level of Internet use to indicate the absorption rate of emerging computer technologies, the authors argue that faster technology...

A review of the theoretical and empirical case for disinflationary economic growth, showing that, contrary to popular wisdom, it is quite possible to have a booming economy without an acceleration in the price level.

The author contends that luck has played a major role in the fiscal fortunes of the 1990s. He (along with many others) is therefore concerned about the unquestioned presumption that projected budget surpluses are as good as achieved. Such a presumption, he says, is a shaky foundation from which...

Macroeconomic and microeconomic data paint conflicting pictures of price behavior. Macroeconomic data suggest that inflation is inertial. Microeconomic data indicate that firms change prices frequently. We formulate and estimate a model which resolves this apparent micro - macro conflict. Our...

A presentation of a large-scale, dynamic simulation model for comparing the equity, efficiency, and macroeconomic effects of five alternatives to the current U.S. federal income tax: a proportional income tax, a proportional consumption tax, a flat tax, a flat tax with transition relief, and a...

An argument that variations of extant general-equilibrium monetary models can generate real-time economic forecasts comparable in accuracy to those contained in the Federal Reserve Board's "Greenbook" briefing documents.

A proposal for a U.S. Social Security reform that gradually, but ultimately fully, privatizes the system. This proposal follows the no-harm, no-foul principle in that it preserves the benefits of older generations and yet promises the same or higher retirement benefits for the young.

A comparison of a simple two-bracket income tax code with an approximation to traditional structures that entail steeply rising marginal tax rates, showing that the simpler rate structures are not necessarily more efficient than alternatives with many, highly progressive brackets.

An argument that raising federal revenues through suspending indexation of the personal income-tax code is inefficient in that it is inferior to direct increases in marginal tax rates.