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Begin New Search Topic Economics Content Type Policy Brief Publishing Institution The Cato Institute

1. The Regressive Nature of the U.S. Tariff Code: Origins and Implications

Author:
Lydia Cox
Publication Date:
06-2023
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
Tariffs are often thought of as taxes that fall uniformly across goods or industries. In reality, however, the U.S. tariff schedule is extremely complex—the modern‐​day tariff code comprises 4,394 pages of tariffs on 19,347 varieties of goods. As a result, there is a lot of variation in tariff rates, even within narrowly defined categories of goods. We study this complexity through the lens of a little‐​known but consequential pattern in the modern U.S. tariff schedule: tariff rates are systematically higher on low‐​value versions of goods relative to their high‐​value counterparts. For example, the tariff on a $400 handbag made of reptile leather is 5.3 percent, while the tariff on an $8 plastic‐​sided handbag is 16 percent. Through a comprehensive analysis of U.S. tariffs over the past 100 years, we show that this regressive pattern is, and has been, a systematic feature of tariffs for decades. Our findings are emblematic of a more fundamental feature of U.S. tariff policy: tariffs set to meet policy objectives of the past have persisted through vast changes in the economic landscape and, despite their historical origins, are still affecting consumers today.
Topic:
Economics, Tariffs, and Trade Policy
Political Geography:
North America and United States of America

2. Unfair Trade or Unfair Protection? The Evolution and Abuse of Section 301

Author:
Scott Lincicome, Inu Manak, and Alfredo Carrillo Obregon
Publication Date:
06-2022
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 gives the U.S. trade representative (USTR) broad authority to investigate “unfair” foreign trade policies allegedly harming American companies and to impose tariffs or other trade restrictions to achieve the removal of those policies. The statute was a common tool of U.S. trade policy from the 1980s to the 1990s, authorizing the USTR to conduct almost 100 different investigations during that period. Since the World Trade Organization (WTO) was established in 1995, however, the USTR has used Section 301 infrequently and almost exclusively to initiate or implement WTO dispute settlement actions—actions that, per WTO rules, were supposed to supplant the kinds of unilateral trade actions once applied under the law. The Trump administration departed from this long‐​standing U.S. practice and took advantage of Section 301’s flaws to circumvent the WTO and enact unilateral tariffs against multiple U.S. trading partners, imposing significant economic and geopolitical costs along the way. This paper examines the Trump administration’s actions in historical context, evaluates how the law was stretched beyond its intended purpose in direct contravention of the United States’ WTO obligations, and offers practical reforms to prevent future abuse.
Topic:
Economics, Legislation, Trade, Protectionism, and WTO
Political Geography:
North America and United States of America

3. Fixing Mortgage Finance: What to Do with the Federal Housing Administration?

Author:
Mark A. Calabria
Publication Date:
02-2012
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
While Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and private subprime lenders have deservedly garnered the bulk of attention and blame for the mortgage crisis, other federal programs also distort our mortgage market and put taxpayers at risk of having to finance massive financial bailouts. The most prominent of these risky agencies is the Federal Housing Administration (FHA).
Topic:
Debt, Economics, Government, and Financial Crisis
Political Geography:
United States

4. Herbert Hoover: Father of the New Deal

Author:
Steven Horwitz
Publication Date:
09-2011
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
Politicians and pundits portray Herbert Hoover as a defender of laissez faire governance whose dogmatic commitment to small government led him to stand by and do nothing while the economy collapsed in the wake of the stock market crash in 1929. In fact, Hoover had long been a critic of laissez faire. As president, he doubled federal spending in real terms in four years. He also used government to prop up wages, restricted immigration, signed the Smoot-Hawley tariff, raised taxes, and created the Reconstruction Finance Corporation-all interventionist measures and not laissez faire. Unlike many Democrats today, President Franklin D. Roosevelt's advisers knew that Hoover had started the New Deal. One of them wrote, "When we all burst into Washington ... we found every essential idea [of the New Deal] enacted in the 100-day Congress in the Hoover administration itself."
Topic:
Economics, Markets, Political Economy, Financial Crisis, and Governance
Political Geography:
United States and Washington

5. Fannie, Freddie, and the Subprime Mortgage Market

Author:
Mark A. Calabria
Publication Date:
03-2011
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
The recent financial crisis was characterized by losses in nearly every type of investment vehicle. Yet no product has attracted as much attention as the subprime mortgage.
Topic:
Economics, Government, Markets, and Financial Crisis
Political Geography:
United States

6. The Case for Auditing the Fed Is Obvious

Author:
Arnold Kling
Publication Date:
04-2010
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
Recently, the Federal Reserve has significantly altered the procedures and goals that it had followed for decades. It has more than doubled its balance sheet, paid interest to banks on reserves held as deposits with the Fed, made decisions about which institutions to prop up and which should be allowed to fail, invested in assets that expose taxpayers to large losses, and raised questions about how it will avoid inflation despite an unprecedented increase in the monetary base.
Topic:
Economics, Government, Political Economy, Politics, and Financial Crisis
Political Geography:
United States

7. Short Sales Bans: Shooting the Messenger?

Author:
Laurence Copeland
Publication Date:
09-2010
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
In response to the recent financial crisis, many governments chose to ban or restrict short sales, hoping to mitigate the impact of the stock market downturn. Stock markets function as a continuous election, held to determine the allocation of resources with buyers voting for and sellers voting against investment in particular stocks. Banning short selling is akin to disenfranchising the "no" voter, thereby creating a distortion in the resource allocation process. Ban-induced price distortions damage the integrity of stock prices among investors and potentially cause stocks to expand beyond what is optimal for the firms and the economy.
Topic:
Economics, Markets, Global Recession, and Financial Crisis
Political Geography:
Washington

8. The Citizens' Guide to Transportation Reauthorization

Author:
Randal O'Toole
Publication Date:
12-2009
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
Sometime in 2010 or 2011, Congress expects to decide how to spend the $250 billion or more of federal gas taxes and other highway user fees that will be collected over the next six years. The process of doing so is called surface transportation reauthorization. A major point of contention in this law is how much of our transportation system should be centrally planned and how much should be built and operated in response to the needs of actual transportation users.
Topic:
Economics and Infrastructure
Political Geography:
United States

9. Does the Doctor Need a Boss?

Author:
Michael F. Cannon and Arnold Kling
Publication Date:
01-2009
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
The traditional model of medical delivery, in which the doctor is trained, respected, and compensated as an independent craftsman, is anachronistic. When a patient has multiple ailments, there is no longer a simple doctor patient or doctor-patient-specialist relationship. Instead, there are multiple specialists who have an impact on the patient, each with a set of interdependencies and difficult coordination issues that increase exponentially with the number of ailments involved.
Topic:
Economics, Health, and Human Welfare
Political Geography:
United States

10. The Klein Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Polemics

Author:
Johan Norberg
Publication Date:
05-2008
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
Naomi Klein's The Shock Doctrine ;purports to be an exposé of the ruthless nature of free-market capitalism and its chief recent exponent, Milton Friedman. Klein argues that capitalism goes hand in hand with dictatorship and brutality and that dictators and other unscrupulous political figures take advantage of "shocks"-catastrophes real or manufactured-to consolidate their power and implement unpopular market reforms. Klein cites Chile under General Augusto Pinochet, Britain under Margaret Thatcher, China during the Tiananmen Square crisis, and the ongoing war in Iraq as examples of this process.
Topic:
Democratization, Economics, and Markets
Political Geography:
China and Chile

11. Asset Bubbles and Their Consequences

Author:
Gerald P. O'Driscoll Jr.
Publication Date:
05-2008
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
In the past, the federal government has introduced moral hazard in the banking system through deposit insurance. Banks underpriced risk because of the federal guarantee that backed deposits. After banking crises in the 1980s and 1990s, deposit insurance was put on a sound basis and that source of moral hazard was mitigated. In its place, monetary policy has become a source of moral hazard. In acting to counter the economic effects of declining asset prices, the Federal Reserve has come to be viewed as underwriting risky investments. Policy pronouncements by senior Fed officials have reinforced that perception. These actions and pronouncements are mutually reinforcing and destructive to the operation of financial markets. The current financial crisis began in the subprime housing market and then spread throughout credit markets. The new Fed policy fueled the housing boom. Refusing to accept responsibility for the housing bubble, the Fed's recent actions will likely fuel a new asset bubble. The cumulative effects of recent monetary policy undermine the case for free markets.
Topic:
Economics, Government, and Markets
Political Geography:
United States

12. FASB: Making Financial Statements Mysterious

Author:
T.J. Rodgers
Publication Date:
08-2008
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
Since the passage of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act in 2002, the Financial Accounting Standards Board has passed rules that it promises will make corporate accounting more transparent. In fact, its revised Generally Accepted Accounting Principles have made it difficult for investors — or even CEOs — to understand a company's financial report.
Topic:
Economics, Government, and Markets
Political Geography:
United States

13. Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae: An Exit Strategy for the Taxpayer

Author:
Arnold Kling
Publication Date:
09-2008
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
The Fannie Mae-Freddie Mac crisis may have been the most avoidable financial crisis in history. Economists have long complained that the risks posed by the government-sponsored enterprises were large relative to any social benefits.
Topic:
Economics, Government, and Financial Crisis
Political Geography:
United States

14. Rails Won't Save America

Author:
Randal O'Toole
Publication Date:
10-2008
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
Rising gas prices and concerns about greenhouse gases have stimulated calls to build more rail transit lines in urban areas, increase subsidies to Amtrak, and construct a large-scale intercity high-speed rail system. These megaprojects will cost hundreds of billions of dollars, but they won't save energy or significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Topic:
Development, Economics, and Government
Political Geography:
United States

15. Does Barack Obama Support Socialized Medicine?

Author:
Michael F. Cannon
Publication Date:
10-2008
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama (IL) has proposed an ambitious plan to restructure America's health care sector. Rather than engage in a detailed critique of Obama's health care plan, many critics prefer to label it "socialized medicine." Is that a fair description of the Obama plan and similar plans? Over the past year, prominent media outlets and respectable think tanks have investigated that question and come to a unanimous answer: no.
Topic:
Economics, Government, Health, and Markets
Political Geography:
United States

16. Greenspan's Monetary Policy in Retrospect

Author:
David R. Henderson and Jeffrey Hummel
Publication Date:
11-2008
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
Is Alan Greenspan to blame for the current housing bubble and the ongoing financial crisis? A growing chorus charges the former Federal Reserve chairman with being an "inflationist" whose loose monetary policy caused or significantly contributed to our current economic troubles. However, although Greenspan's policies weren't perfect, his monetary policy was in fact tight, and his legacy is one of having overseen low and stable inflation and a striking dampening of the business cycle.
Topic:
Economics
Political Geography:
United States

17. How Did We Get into This Financial Mess?

Author:
Lawrence H. White
Publication Date:
11-2008
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
As policymakers confront the ongoing U.S. financial crisis, it is important to take a step back and understand its origins. Those who fault "deregulation," "unfettered capitalism," or "greed" would do well to look instead at flawed institutions and misguided policies. The expansion in risky mortgages to under qualified borrowers was encouraged by the federal government. The growth of "creative" nonprime lending followed Congress's strengthening of the Community Reinvestment Act, the Federal Housing Administration's loosening of down-payment standards, and the Department of Housing and Urban Development's pressuring lenders to extend mortgages to borrowers who previously would not have qualified.
Topic:
Economics and Government
Political Geography:
United States

18. Is the Gold Standard Still the Gold Standard among Monetary Systems?

Author:
Lawrence H. White
Publication Date:
02-2008
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
Critics have raised a number of theoretical and historical objections to the gold standard. Some have called the gold standard a “crazy” idea. The gold standard is not a flawless monetary system. Neither is the fiat money alternative. In light of historical evidence about the comparative magnitude of these flaws, however, the gold standard is a policy option that deserves serious consideration.
Topic:
Economics and Government
Political Geography:
United States

19. What Can the United States Learn from the Nordic Model?

Author:
Daniel Mitchell
Publication Date:
11-2007
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
Some policymakers in the United States and Europe argue that it is possible to enjoy economic growth and also have a large welfare state. These advocates for bigger government claim that the so- called Nordic Model offers the best of both worlds. This claim does not withstand scrutiny. Economic performance in Nordic nations is lagging, and excessive government is the most likely explanation. The public sector in Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, and Iceland consumes, on average, more than 48 percent of economic output. Total government outlays in the United States, by contrast, are less than 37 percent of gross domes- tic product. Revenue comparisons are even more striking. Tax receipts average more than 45 per- cent of GDP in Nordic nations, a full 20 percent- age points higher than the aggregate tax burden in the United States.
Topic:
Economics and Government
Political Geography:
United States and Europe

20. In Pursuit of Happiness Research: Is It Reliable? What Does It Imply for Policy?

Author:
Will Wilkinson
Publication Date:
04-2007
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
“Happiness research” studies the correlates of subjective well-being, generally through survey methods. A number of psychologists and social scientists have drawn upon this work recently to argue that the American model of relatively limited government and a dynamic market economy corrodes happiness, whereas Western European and Scandinavian-style social democracies pro- mote it. This paper argues that happiness research in fact poses no threat to the relatively libertarian ideals embodied in the U.S. socioeconomic system. Happiness research is seriously hampered by confusion and disagreement about the definition of its subject as well as the limitations inherent in current measurement techniques. In its present state happiness research cannot be relied on as an authoritative source for empirical information about happiness, which, in any case, is not a simple empirical phenomenon but a cultural and historical moving target. Yet, even if we accept the data of happiness research at face value, few of the alleged redistributive policy implications actually follow from the evidence. The data show that neither higher rates of government redistribution nor lower levels of income inequality make us happier, whereas high levels of economic freedom and high average incomes are among the strongest correlates of subjective well- being. Even if we table the damning charges of questionable science and bad moral philosophy, the American model still comes off a glowing success in terms of happiness.
Topic:
Economics, Markets, and Political Economy
Political Geography:
United States, America, and Europe