One controversial aspect of the current Social Security system has been the relative distribution of its net costs and benefits between employers and workers. Using simple supply and demand analysis, we demonstrate that proponents and opponents of the current system are making arguments that...

In spite of the significant research literature identifying a tradeoff between income redistribution and economic growth, massive public programs have been implemented to help the poor by transferring income to them. Since Lyndon Johnson's war on poverty began in 1964, over 3.5 trillion dollars...

Considerable disagreement exists about how economic growth, taxes, and other policies affect the distribution of income from both a theoretical and empirical perspective. This short paper attempts to shed some light on the empirical debate about the role of tax policy in determining economic...

Governments have long justified transfer payments in the name of reducing income inequality. The justification seems plausible and compassionate, if one takes an idealistic view of public and private incentives. Political authorities can simply take money from the wealthy with a progressive tax...

The economics literature generally finds a positive, but small, gain in income to native-born populations from immigrants and potentially large gains in world incomes. But immigrants can also impact a recipient nation's institutions. A growing empirical literature supports the importance of...

In this article, the authors criticize the expansion of government to correct market failures. Primary focus is given to the moral aspects of free enterprise and government expansion, with the authors criticizing the notion that markets are inherently immoral and propelled by self-interest while...

This article further investigates the critical relationship between economic freedom and real income levels. Treating member nations of the OECD as de facto economic and political regions, the estimations in this empirical study all provide strong support for the three hypotheses considered...

The cryptocurrency Bitcoin has been prominently featured in the news recently. Its ascension in value has been nothing short of extraordinary. This article briefly explains what Bitcoin is and how it works. The more challenging question is what Bitcoin — this cryptographic breakthrough —...

The Committee on Economic Education (CEE) has been allocated one session in the American Economic Review Papers and Proceedings (P&P) since 1964. In 2008, the American Economic Association evaluated the allocation of AER Papers and Proceedings sessions to various AEA Committees. In response, the...

What is the best tax structure? Neither pundits and politicians nor economists can say for certain. Many have suggestions, but in reality there is no one tax system that will work for every state, let alone every municipality. The reason is simple: The broader policy environments underlying tax...