Commentary

As the potential economic impact of a global pandemic starts to crystalize, there has rightly been a lot of discussion about how individuals and businesses will fare—and what governments can do to support them. But what will happen to government finances? In particular, what happens to U.S....

April 1, 2020
Therese J. McGuireKim S. Rueben
Commentary

Prospects for wealth taxes are poor, in part because the wealthy have shown themselves quite able, with the help of current campaign finance laws, to shape tax legislation in their own interest. Fortunately, a better alternative is available — taxing inheritances. This brief describes how such a...

November 19, 2019
Henry J. Aaron
Commentary

Conventional wisdom holds that U.S. productivity growth, the weakest it has been in more than a quarter-century, is the reason for today’s subpar GDP growth and low wages. But is the conventional wisdom correct? Rudolph G. Penner comments in this article which was originally published by ...

January 22, 2018
Rudolph G. Penner
Commentary

Bill Gale discusses the current tax reform initiatives by Congress and the Administration and outlines some issues Republicans may face when trying to pass tax legislation in this...

August 2, 2017
William G. Gale
Commentary

Eric Toder and Alan Viard describe the need for corporate tax reform in this U.S. News & World Report opinion editorial.

August 2, 2016
Eric ToderAlan Viard
Commentary

Even before the ruins of the World Trade Towers stop smoldering, Congressional leaders are quietly planning to revive their favorite scheme to boost the economy—a $20 billion plus cut in capital gains taxes, possibly as an add-on to minimum wage legislation. Proponents, led by Senate Minority...

September 30, 2001
Leonard E. Burman
Commentary

The Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 phased out the estate tax by 2010, but it is scheduled to be restored, along with the rest of the 2001 tax changes, in 2011. This commentary argues that the federal estate tax is the most progressive tax in the federal system, an...

June 14, 2002
Leonard E. Burman
Commentary

The president's 2003 tax proposals include accelerating the so-called "marriage penalty" relief for middle- and upper-class married couples, rather than phasing in the change over a decade. Yet, for the largest source of cash assistance to low-income working families—the earned income tax credit...

May 21, 2003
Katie Fitzpatrick
Commentary

Here's one message from the new "bipartisan" Medicare bill being debated in Congress: low-income elderly people are having a hard time paying for their prescription drugs, so we need...another tax cut for rich people! Today's tax cut for rich people—health savings accounts (HSA)—has been all but...

November 21, 2003
Leonard E. BurmanLinda J. Blumberg
Commentary

In a satirical piece for Public Radio International's Marketplace, Len Burman announces his presidential candidacy built upon one issue: abolishing all taxes. The piece is a humorous attempt to highlight the problems raised by unrestrained deficit spending.

May 11, 2004
Leonard E. Burman