Steindel's paper focuses on the interaction of tax and transfer programs and consumer spending. The issue has attracted increased attention in the United States as a result of simultaneity of the first US recession in a decade and of the 2001 tax cut. Steindel points out that while the US...

Gross domestic product's high correlation with unemployment and inflation makes it a key measure of the U.S. economy. Yet the somewhat arbitrary nature of the GDP construction process complicates interpretation and measurement of the indicator. A study of an alternative measure of GDP designed...