The Federal Medicare program provides subsidized health insurance for one in every seven Americans. Medicare covers a higher proportion of rural than urban residents because rural residents are more likely to be elderly or disabled persons entitled to benefits. The rapid growth of Medicare...

The number of farms and other estates that must pay Federal estate taxes has increased in recent years. Concerns about this increase and its effect on farms and other small businesses have generated a number of proposals to change Federal estate tax laws. Some proposals would affect only farms...

Current proposals would convert many domestic assistance programs into Federal block grants to be administered by State governments. Block grants give States broad discretion on how Federal funds are spent. In theory, this can lead to program improvements, reduced administration costs, and lower...

This report analyzes the effects of the current Federal tax code on farming and evaluates tax proposals to assist beginning farmers. Investment, management, and production decisions in agriculture continue to be influenced by Federal tax laws. Farmers continue to benefit from both Federal income...

ERS sponsored a workshop, Technological and Structural Change in the Transportation Sector: Effects on U.S. Food and Agricultural Trade, March 17-18, 1999, in Washington, DC. The program's objectives were to raise awareness within ERS about the role and importance of transportation in U.S. food...

The earned income tax credit (EITC) has become a major source of income support for low-income rural workers and their families, especially in the South, where the rural poor are concentrated. Program benefits for rural areas are expected to total about $6 billion in 1996, nearly double the 1992...

Concern among policymakers that the Federal estate tax might force the liquidation of some family farms has resulted in the enactment of a variety of special provisions over the years. Providing relief to farmers and other small business owners was the primary impetus for the 1997 changes to...

This report documents an applied general equilibrium model of the United States. The model features explicit treatment of Federal, State, and local taxes and is segmented into 10 distinct subregions. These subregions engage in inter- and intraregional trade, as well as international trade. Each...