The viatical settlement industry provides an opportunity for terminally-ill consumers, typically HIV patients, to exploit a previously untapped source of equity in existing life insurance contracts to finance consumption and medical expenses. The 1996 introduction and dissemination of effecive...

Draft: America’s lengthy income tax code and financial regulations are notoriously full of special treatment for the politically favored. Academics and policymakers argue the relative merits of different approaches to tax and regulatory policy – given the complexity of economic life, should...