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22. Congress Should Account for the Excess Burden of Taxation
- Author:
- Christopher J. Conover
- Publication Date:
- 10-2010
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Cato Institute
- Abstract:
- A well-established principle of public finance holds that taxes impose costs on society beyond the amount of revenue government collects. Estimates vary depending on the type of tax, but the “marginal excess burden” of federal taxes most likely ranges from 14 to 52 cents per dollar of tax revenue, averaging about 44 cents for all federal taxes.
- Topic:
- Economics, Government, and Markets
- Political Geography:
- United States
23. Fiscal Policy Report Card on America's Governors: 2010
- Author:
- Chris Edwards
- Publication Date:
- 09-2010
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Cato Institute
- Abstract:
- State governments have had to make tough budget choices in recent years. Tax revenues have stagnated as a result of the poor economy, and that has prompted governors to take a variety of fiscal actions to close large budget gaps. Some governors have cut spending to balance their budgets, while others have pursued large tax increases.
- Topic:
- Economics, Government, Markets, and Monetary Policy
- Political Geography:
- America
24. Has the Fed Been a Failure?
- Author:
- George A. Selgin, Lawrence H. White, and William D. Lastrapes
- Publication Date:
- 11-2010
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Cato Institute
- Abstract:
- As the one-hundredth anniversary of the 1913 Federal Reserve Act approaches, we assess whether the nation's experiment with the Federal Reserve has been a success or a failure. Drawing on a wide range of recent empirical research, we find the following: (1) The Fed's full history (1914 to present) has been characterized by more rather than fewer symptoms of monetary and macroeconomic instability than the decades leading to the Fed's establishment. (2) While the Fed's performance has undoubtedly improved since World War II, even its postwar performance has not clearly surpassed that of its undoubtedly flawed predecessor, the National Banking system, before World War I. (3) Some proposed alternative arrangements might plausibly do better than the Fed as presently constituted. We conclude that the need for a systematic exploration of alternatives to the established monetary system is as pressing today as it was a century ago.
- Topic:
- Civil Society, Government, and Markets
- Political Geography:
- United States
25. Do Vouchers and Tax Credits Increase Private School Regulation?
- Author:
- Andrew J. Coulson
- Publication Date:
- 10-2010
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Cato Institute
- Abstract:
- School voucher and education tax credit programs have proliferated in the United States over the past two decades. Advocates have argued that they will enable families to become active consumers in a free and competitive education marketplace, but some fear that these programs may in fact bring with them a heavy regulatory burden that could stifle market forces. Until now, there has been no systematic, empirical investigation of that concern. The present paper aims to shed light on the issue by quantifying the regulations imposed on private schools both within and outside school choice programs, and then analyzing them with descriptive statistics and regression analyses. The results are tested for robustness to alternative ways of quantifying private school regulation, and to alternative regression models, and the question of causality is addressed. The study concludes that vouchers, but not tax credits, impose a substantial and statistically significant additional regulatory burden on participating private schools.
- Topic:
- Education, Government, and Markets
- Political Geography:
- United States
26. Halfway to Where? Answering the Key Questions of Health Care Reform
- Author:
- Michael Tanner
- Publication Date:
- 09-2009
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Cato Institute
- Abstract:
- Although neither the House nor the Senate passed a health care bill by President Obama's August deadline, various pieces of legislation have made it through committee, and they provide a concrete basis for analyzing what the proposed health care reform would and would not do. Looking at the various bills that are moving on Capitol Hill, we can determine the following: Contrary to the Obama administration's repeated assurances, millions of Americans who are happy with their current health insurance will not be able to keep it. As many as 89.5 million people may be dumped into a government-run plan. Some Americans may find themselves forced into a new insurance plan that no longer includes their current doctor. Americans will pay more than $820 billion in additional taxes over the next 10 years, and could see their insurance premiums rise as much as 95 percent. The current health care bills will increase the budget deficit by at least $239 billion over the next 10 years, and far more in the years beyond that. If the new health care entitlement were subject to the same 75-year actuarial standards as Social Security or Medicare, its unfunded liabilities would exceed $9.2 trillion. While the bills contain no direct provisions for rationing care, they nonetheless increase the likelihood of government rationing and interference with how doctors practice medicine. Contrary to assertions of some opponents, the bills contain no provision for euthanasia or mandatory end-of-life counseling. The bills' provisions on abortion coverage are far murkier.
- Topic:
- Government, Health, Human Welfare, and Markets
- Political Geography:
- United States and America
27. Would a Stricter Fed Policy and Financial Regulation Have Averted the Financial Crisis?
- Author:
- Jagadeesh Gokhale and Peter Van Doren
- Publication Date:
- 10-2009
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Cato Institute
- Abstract:
- Many commentators have argued that if the Federal Reserve had followed a stricter monetary policy earlier this decade when the housing bubble was forming, and if Congress had not deregulated banking but had imposed tighter financial standards, the housing boom and bust—and the subsequent financial crisis and recession—would have been averted. In this paper, we investigate those claims and dispute them. We are skeptical that economists can detect bubbles in real time through technical means with any degree of unanimity. Even if they could, we doubt the Fed would have altered its policy in the early 21st century, and we suspect that political leaders would have exerted considerable pressure to maintain that policy. Concerning regulation, we find that the banking reform of the late 1990s had little effect on the housing boom and bust, and that the many reform ideas currently proposed would have done little or nothing to avert the crisis.
- Topic:
- Economics, Government, Markets, and Financial Crisis
- Political Geography:
- United States
28. A Matter of Trust: Why Congress Should Turn Federal Lands into Fiduciary Trusts
- Author:
- Randal O'Toole
- Publication Date:
- 01-2009
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Cato Institute
- Abstract:
- The Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, and Fish and Wildlife Service collectivelymanagewell over a quarter of the land in theUnited States.Although everyone agrees that the landsandresourcesmanagedbytheseagencies are exceedingly valuable, the lands collectively cost taxpayers around $7 billion per year.
- Topic:
- Agriculture, Civil Society, Environment, Government, and Privatization
29. A Better Way to Generate and Use Comparative-Effectiveness Research
- Author:
- Michael F. Cannon
- Publication Date:
- 02-2009
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Cato Institute
- Abstract:
- President Barack Obama, former U.S. Senate majority leader Tom Daschle, and others propose a new government agency that would evaluate the relative effectiveness of medical treatments. The need for “comparative-effectiveness research” is great. Evidence suggests Americans spend $700 billion annually on medical care that provides no value. Yet patients, providers, and purchasers typically lack the necessary information to distinguish between high- and low-value services.
- Topic:
- Economics, Government, Health, and Privatization
- Political Geography:
- United States
30. Bright Lines and Bailouts: To Bail or Not To Bail, That Is the Question
- Author:
- Vern McKinley and Gary Gegenheimer
- Publication Date:
- 04-2009
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Cato Institute
- Abstract:
- A financial-institution bailout involves government intervention through a transaction or forbearance targeted to a financial institution or group of financial institutions. The action is preemptive as the financial institution does not fail and go out of business, but remains a going concern, benefiting creditors, shareholders, or counterparties. In the absence of a bailout, the financial institution would either be forced to go through receivership or bankruptcy in the prescribed legal form, or have its role in financial intermediation disrupted.
- Topic:
- Economics, Government, Political Economy, and Privatization
- Political Geography:
- United States
31. Obamacare to Come: Seven Bad Ideas for Health Care Reform
- Author:
- Michael Tanner
- Publication Date:
- 05-2009
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Cato Institute
- Abstract:
- President Obama has made it clear that reforming the American health care system will be one of his top priorities. In response, congressional leaders have promised to introduce legislation by this summer, and they hope for an initial vote in the Senate before the Labor Day recess.
- Topic:
- Government and Health
- Political Geography:
- United States
32. Electronic Employment Eligibility Verification: Franz Kafka's Solution to Illegal Immigration
- Author:
- Jim Harper
- Publication Date:
- 03-2008
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Cato Institute
- Abstract:
- In last summer's debate over immigration reform, Congress treated a national electronic employment eligibility verification (EEV) system as a matter of near consensus. Intended to strengthen internal enforcement of the immigration laws, electronic EEV is an Internet-based employee vetting system that the federal government would require every employer to use.
- Topic:
- Economics, Government, and Politics
- Political Geography:
- United States
33. The Grass Is Not Always Greener: A Look at National Health Care Systems Around the World
- Author:
- Michael Tanner
- Publication Date:
- 03-2008
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Cato Institute
- Abstract:
- Critics of the U.S. health care system frequently point to other countries as models for reform. They point out that many countries spend far less on health care than the United States yet seem to enjoy better health outcomes. The United States should follow the lead of those countries, the critics say, and adopt a government- run, national health care system.
- Topic:
- Government and Health
- Political Geography:
- United States and Europe
34. Roadmap to Gridlock: The Failure of Long-Range Metropolitan Transportation Planning
- Author:
- Randal O'Toole
- Publication Date:
- 05-2008
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Cato Institute
- Abstract:
- Federal law requires metropolitan planning organizations in urban areas of more than 50,000 people to write long-range (20- to 30- year) metropolitan transportation plans and to revise or update those plans every 4 to 5 years. A review of plans for more than 75 of the nation's largest metropolitan areas reveals that virtually all of them fail to follow standard planning methods. As a result, taxpayers and travelers have little assurance that the plans make effective use of available resources to reduce congestion, maximize mobility, and provide safe transportation facilities.
- Topic:
- Civil Society, Development, and Government
- Political Geography:
- United States
35. The Fiscal Impact of a Large-Scale Education Tax Credit Program
- Author:
- Andrew J. Coulson
- Publication Date:
- 07-2008
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Cato Institute
- Abstract:
- In this paper we estimate the budgetary impact of the Cato Institute's Public Education Tax Credit model legislation on five states and presents a generalized spreadsheet tool (“the Fiscal Impact Calculator”) that can estimate the program's effect on any other state for which the necessary input data are supplied. It is estimated that, in its first 10 years of operation, savings from the PETC program would range from $1.1 billion for South Carolina to $15.9 billion for Texas. Illinois, Wisconsin, and New York are estimated to enjoy 10-year savings within that range.
- Topic:
- Education and Government
- Political Geography:
- United States and New York
36. Markets vs. Monopolies in Education: A Global Review of the Evidence
- Author:
- Andrew J. Coulson
- Publication Date:
- 09-2008
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Cato Institute
- Abstract:
- Would large-scale, free-market reforms improve educational outcomes forAmerican children?That question cannot be answered by looking at domestic evidence alone. Though innumerable “school choice” programs have been implemented around theUnited States, none has created a truly free and competitive education marketplace. Existing programs are too small, too restriction laden, or both. To understand how genuine market forces affect school performance, wemust cast a wider net, surveying education systems from all over the globe. The present paper undertakes such a review, assessing the results of 25 years of international research comparing market and government provision of education, and explaining why these international experiences are relevant to theUnited States.
- Topic:
- Education and Government
- Political Geography:
- United States
37. Medical Licensing: An Obstacle to Affordable, Quality Care
- Author:
- Shirley Svorny
- Publication Date:
- 09-2008
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Cato Institute
- Abstract:
- In the United States, the authority to regulate medical professionals lies with the states. To practice within a state, clinicians must obtain a license from that state's government. State statutes dictate standards for licensing and disciplining medical professionals. They also list tasks clinicians are allowed to perform. One view is that state licensing of medical professionals assures quality. In contrast, I argue here that licensure not only fails to protect consumers from incompetent physicians, but, by raising barriers to entry, makes health care more expensive and less accessible. Institutional oversight and a sophisticated network of private accrediting and certification organizations, all motivated by the need to protect reputations and avoid legal liability, offer whatever consumer protections exist today. Consumers would benefit were states to eliminate professional licensing in medicine and leave education, credentialing, and scope-of-practice decisions entirely to the private sector and the courts. If eliminating licensing is politically infeasible, some preliminary steps might be generally acceptable. States could increase workforce mobility by recognizing licenses issued by other states. For mid-level clinicians, eliminating education requirements beyond an initial degree would allow employers and consumers to select the appropriate level of expertise. At the very least, state legislators should be alert to the self-interest of medical professional organizations that may lie behind the licensing proposals brought to the legislature for approval.
- Topic:
- Government and Health
- Political Geography:
- United States
38. Fiscal Policy Report Card on America's Governors: 2008
- Author:
- Chris Edwards
- Publication Date:
- 10-2008
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Cato Institute
- Abstract:
- Revenue poured into state governments as the U.S. economy expanded between 2003 and 2007, prompting the nation's governors to expand state budgets and offer the occasional tax cut. But now that the economy has slowed and revenue growth is down, governors are taking various actions to close rising budget deficits.
- Topic:
- Government
- Political Geography:
- United States
39. The Durable Internet: Preserving Network Neutrality without Regulation
- Author:
- Timothy B. Lee
- Publication Date:
- 11-2008
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Cato Institute
- Abstract:
- An important reason for the Internet's remarkable growth over the last quarter century is the “end-to-end” principle that networks should confine themselves to transmitting generic packets without worrying about their contents. Not only has this made deployment of Internet infrastructure cheap and efficient, but it has created fertile ground for entrepreneurship. On a network that respects the end-to-end principle, prior approval from network owners is not needed to launch new applications, services, or content.
- Topic:
- Government and Science and Technology
- Political Geography:
- United States
40. The Case against Government Intervention in Energy Markets
- Author:
- Richard L. Gordon
- Publication Date:
- 12-2008
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Cato Institute
- Abstract:
- Many politicians and pundits are panicked over the existing state of the oil and gasoline markets. Disregarding past experience, these parties advocate massive intervention in those markets, which would only serve to repeat and extend previous errors. These interventionists propose solutions to nonexistent problems.
- Topic:
- Energy Policy, Government, and Markets
- Political Geography:
- United States
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