This paper gives an overview of the TPC’s methodology for dynamic analysis of tax proposals. Following the practice of official government estimators, we use a Keynesian model to estimate the short-term effects of policy changes on output relative to its full-employment level. That model assumes...
This report considers three options for restructuring the home mortgage interest deduction – replacing the deduction with a 15 percent non-refundable interest credit, reducing the ceiling on debt eligible for an interest subsidy to $500,000, and combining the substitution of the credit for the...
Bad framing of fiscal policy contributes to a poor allocation of money collected and spent. Almost all real growth in government goes automatically to health, retirement and tax subsidies, while spending on children, the work force, and infrastructure are scheduled for decline as a share of...
We usually think of lame ducks as politicians who have lost influence to their successors, but the next president could enter office with his or her influence already lost to his or her predecessors. The growing revenues that accompany economic growth traditionally provide a way for government...
US fiscal policy has long been unsustainable, driven largely by automatically growing entitlement spending and insufficient revenues. Often overlooked is the extent to which this preordained fiscal policy limits policymakers’ discretion to act on new priorities each year. This study lays out...
Many federal tax reform proposals would eliminate the state and local tax (SALT) deduction. Although deficit reduction often is the rationale, there are arguments for eliminating the deduction based on economic efficiency, equity, and improved federal fiscal policy. Eliminating the deduction,...
The Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center’s (TPC) microsimulation model produces revenue and distributional estimates of the US federal tax system. This paper describes a reweighting procedure that allows the model to be used for analyzing taxes at the state level. We construct state weights such...
The Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center’s (TPC) microsimulation model produces revenue and distributional estimates of the US federal tax system. This paper describes a reweighting procedure that allows the model to be used for analyzing taxes at the state level. We construct state weights such...
Looking specifically at taxes, Brookings Senior Fellow William Gale and Research Assistant Aaron Krupkin write that the U.S. does not have a good tax system that raises the revenues needed “to finance government spending in a manner that is as simple, equitable, and growth-friendly as possible...
Dynamic Analysis of Tax Plans: An Update
This paper gives an overview of the TPC’s methodology for dynamic analysis of tax proposals. Following the practice of official government estimators, we use a Keynesian model to estimate the short-term effects of policy changes on output relative to its full-employment level. That model assumes...
Effects of Reforms of the Home Mortgage Interest Deduction by Income Group and by State
This report considers three options for restructuring the home mortgage interest deduction – replacing the deduction with a 15 percent non-refundable interest credit, reducing the ceiling on debt eligible for an interest subsidy to $500,000, and combining the substitution of the credit for the...
How Budget Offices Should Reframe Our Long-Term Budget Problems
Bad framing of fiscal policy contributes to a poor allocation of money collected and spent. Almost all real growth in government goes automatically to health, retirement and tax subsidies, while spending on children, the work force, and infrastructure are scheduled for decline as a share of...
A Lame Duck President in 2017?
We usually think of lame ducks as politicians who have lost influence to their successors, but the next president could enter office with his or her influence already lost to his or her predecessors. The growing revenues that accompany economic growth traditionally provide a way for government...
Options to Restore More Discretion to the Federal Budget
US fiscal policy has long been unsustainable, driven largely by automatically growing entitlement spending and insufficient revenues. Often overlooked is the extent to which this preordained fiscal policy limits policymakers’ discretion to act on new priorities each year. This study lays out...
Tax-Exempt Municipal Bonds and the Financing of Professional Sports Stadiums
This report takes an investigative look at federal revenue spent on professional sports stadiums. Visit the Brookings Institution's website to try...
Revisiting the State and Local Tax Deduction
Many federal tax reform proposals would eliminate the state and local tax (SALT) deduction. Although deficit reduction often is the rationale, there are arguments for eliminating the deduction based on economic efficiency, equity, and improved federal fiscal policy. Eliminating the deduction,...
Incorporating State Analysis into the Tax Policy Center's Microsimulation Model: Documentation and Methodology
The Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center’s (TPC) microsimulation model produces revenue and distributional estimates of the US federal tax system. This paper describes a reweighting procedure that allows the model to be used for analyzing taxes at the state level. We construct state weights such...
Incorporating State Analysis into the Tax Policy Center's Microsimulation Model: Documentation and Methodology
The Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center’s (TPC) microsimulation model produces revenue and distributional estimates of the US federal tax system. This paper describes a reweighting procedure that allows the model to be used for analyzing taxes at the state level. We construct state weights such...
Major Tax Issues in 2016
Looking specifically at taxes, Brookings Senior Fellow William Gale and Research Assistant Aaron Krupkin write that the U.S. does not have a good tax system that raises the revenues needed “to finance government spending in a manner that is as simple, equitable, and growth-friendly as possible...