RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Gary Burtless, October 16, 2009, National Journal
Gary Burtless addresses the idea of a tax credit for job creation, concluding that although the idea is attractive, it is not one that has a conspicuous record of success. The closest analogy to the kind of job creation tax incentive now under discussion is the 1970s era New Jobs Tax Credit, which demonstrated that creating a well designed subsidy is difficult if not impossible.
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RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
William G. Gale, May 04, 2009, National Journal
President Obama has embraced the idea of tax reform and created an independent commission, but told its members to work within the confines of current policy. Can there be meaningful reform that doesn't raise income taxes on 95 percent of taxpayers? William Gale discusses this and other issues regarding tax reform. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Eswar Prasad and Isaac Sorkin, March 15, 2009, The Brookings Institution
G-20 leaders pledged in November 2008 to use fiscal measures to stimulate their economies but how are countries doing on that promise and what are the various stimulus plans made of? Through a new G-20 stimulus tracking map and related analysis, Eswar Prasad and Isaac Sorkin assess the various G-20 stimulus efforts, noting the size, composition and frontloading elements of the plans, among other components. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Eswar Prasad and Isaac Sorkin, March 05, 2009, The Brookings Insttiution
Almost all of the G-20 countries have agreed to some type of fiscal stimulus plan to get their economies back on track but how strong are the plans and what measures are included? Eswar Prasad and Isaac Sorkin analyze the G-20 stimulus plans in detail in new research. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Jeffrey R. Kling and William J. Congdon, December 21, 2008, The Washington Times
Jeffrey R. Kling and William J. Congdon agree with the Obama stimulus proposal that increasing expenditures and decreasing taxes can stimulate the economy, but that spending on “shovel ready” infrastructure and human capital to diversify the targets of stimulus dollars will expedite the process while keeping waste to a minimum. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Gary Burtless, December 17, 2008, National Journal
If policy-makers prefer speedy and administratively simple tax relief, a payroll tax cut has much to recommend it. However, argues Gary Burtless, if they want to target tax relief on taxpayers who are most likely to spend it in the short run, then a temporary cut in income taxes is the way to go. Read More
PAST EVENT
Friday, December 05, 2008
8:45 AM to 4:30 PM
Washington, DC
A new administration presents an ideal opportunity to reshape the nation’s tax code. Improving the equity, simplicity and efficiency of the tax system will help to better prepare taxpayers, businesses and the economy for the challenges that lay ahead. Brookings, the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center and Tax Analysts co-hosted a forum to explore timely policy recommendations for the incoming president and his transition team. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
William G. Gale and Benjamin Harris, December 05, 2008, The Brookings Institution
A new administration presents an ideal opportunity to reshape the nation’s tax code. Improving the equity, simplicity and efficiency of the tax system will help to better prepare taxpayers, businesses and the economy for the challenges that lay ahead. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Isabel V. Sawhill, July 02, 2008, The Brookings Institution
Isabel Sawhill presents leading presidential candidates' positions on issues of fiscal responsibility, including: taxes, government programs and budgetary process issues . This chart is part of a series of issue indices to be published during the 2008 presidential election cycle. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
William G. Gale, Douglas W. Elmendorf, Jason Furman and Benjamin H. Harris , June 30, 2008, The Brookings Institution
William Gale, Doug Elmendorf, Jason Furman and Benjamin Harris reexamine the distributional effects of the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts, incorporating the financing of the tax changes, and the implications of behavioral responses for economic growth, incomes, and well-being factors. Compared with the standard analysis, this “dynamic distributional analysis” shows that the benefits of these tax cuts were much smaller, on average, and much more skewed toward people with higher incomes. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
William G. Gale, May 13, 2008, Senate Finance Committee
Taxpayers are overwhelmed by complexity, real and imagined, in the tax code. Testifying before the Senate Finance Committee, William Gale said that, although the need to simplify the tax system is one goal that everyone accepts, every year the system becomes more complex. Read More
VIDEO
Jason Furman, January 18, 2008
Both the White House and Capitol Hill are laying out strategies to stimulate the nation’s economy. Hamilton Project Director Jason Furman assesses President Bush’s proposal for tax rebates and business tax cuts.
PAST EVENT
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
12:45 PM to
Washington, DC
The Tax Policy Center and Brookings's Opportunity 08 project hosted Senator Barack Obama for a speech on the economy, opportunity and tax policy. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Jason Furman, September 06, 2007, House Committee on Ways and Means
Hamilton Project Director Jason Furman testified before the House Ways and Means Committee on fair and equitable tax policy for America's working families. Read More
BOOK
Allen Schick, August 01, 2007
In this third edition of his classic book The Federal Budget, Allen Schick examines how surpluses projected during the final years of the Clinton presidency turned into oversized deficits under George W. Bush. Read More