RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Henry J. Aaron, January 31, 2012, The Fiscal Times
Henry Aaron reviews Bruce Bartlett's book The Benefit and the Burden: Tax Reform — Why We Need it and What it Will Take, explaining that it succeeds as a clear introduction to why and how America's tax system became so complicated and formidable, but falls short in explaining some of the more nuanced parts of the tax code. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
William G. Gale, January 24, 2012, Christian Science Monitor
William Gale writes that if the United States is going to reduce the medium- and long-term deficit, new tax revenues must be part of the solution. Gale examines the impact that new taxes, including higher income taxes and new consumption taxes, may have on government spending and the economy. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
William G. Gale, January 19, 2012, The Brookings Institution
William Gale writes that any sustainable solution to the nation’s fiscal problems must include revenue increases, despite their political unpopularity. Gale argues that tax reform should make the nation’s tax system more equitable and progressive, and that combining tax increases and spending cuts honors the wishes of the public. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Robert C. Pozen, January 01, 2012, The Day
Robert Pozen looks at Newt Gingrich's proposals to reform Social Security and income taxes, arguing that while they may be based in familiar Republican concepts, they in fact avoid fiscal discipline by complicating the tax code and incentivizing risk through a privatized version of Social Security. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Robert C. Pozen, December 27, 2011, Washington Post
Robert Pozen discusses the flaws in Newt Gingrich's proposals to reform Social Security and establish a flat income tax. Pozen highlights the risks that the Social Security plan could impose on taxpayers and argues that the flat tax proposal could in fact complicate tax calculations for many households. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Robert C. Pozen, December 13, 2011, The Brookings Institution
Robert Pozen summarizes tax reform proposals put forth by the Obama administration and Republican presidential candidates, and looks at issues such as the expiration of the payroll tax cut, currently scheduled to occur in January 2012. Pozen also explains what’s needed to pass serious tax reform in the next year. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Adele Morris, November 07, 2011, The Brookings Institution
Adele Morris examines the economics and politics surrounding the inclusion of a carbon tax in a broader tax reform package. Morris writes that despite a strong economic case for such a policy, political opposition exists even among those who accept the role of greenhouse gas emissions in climate change. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Robert C. Pozen, November 01, 2011, The Huffington Post
Measuring presidential candidate Rick Perry's proposed tax reform plan against his own principles for simplifying the tax code, Robert Pozen writes that Perry's plan offers a large tax cut to the wealthy while offering little to the poor, maintains many distortive tax deductions, and does not make the tax preparation process any simpler. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Bill Frenzel, Tim Penny, Jim Nussle and Charlie Stenholm, November 01, 2011, POLITICO
Bill Frenzel encourages the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction to create a plan that cuts much more than $1.5 trillion over ten years, that addresses long-term sources of budget deficits by taking on Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid and keeps in mind that any deficit reduction plan must include short-term stimulative efforts that encourage economic growth. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Pete V. Domenici and Alice M. Rivlin, November 01, 2011, Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction
Testifying before the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, Alice Rivlin and Pete Domenici ask the committee to craft a grand bargain that would save at least $4 trillion over ten years. Rivlin and Domenici note that this would help restore confidence in the economy and the political process, and detail what should be included in the deal. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Adele Morris, October 31, 2011, The Brookings Institution
At a recent event, Adele Morris explored the possibility of including a carbon tax as a part of a tax package, analyzing the benefits it would have for the federal budget deficit and environment and noting complications in implementing it. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
William G. Gale, October 21, 2011, The Brookings Institution
At a recent event, William Gale discussed the possibility of instituting a value-added tax (VAT) in the United States. He argued that instituting a VAT could be a good, although not perfect, way to raise new revenues that could be used for both deficit reduction and tax reform. Read More
PAST EVENT
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
1:30 PM to 4:00 PM
Washington, DC
Twenty-five years after the bipartisan success of the 1986 Tax Reform Act, the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction is considering significant tax reform to help cut at least $1.2 trillion from the federal budget deficit. On October 19, the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center hosted a conversation on the impact of the Tax Reform Act of 1986, and the prospect for passing significant reform as part of a “grand bargain” on deficit reduction. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Ted Gayer, October 18, 2011, Resources for the Future and the Peterson Institute of International Economics
Ted Gayer addresses the role a carbon tax can play in addressing the United States' long-term fiscal gap. Gayer lays out the framework for an effective carbon tax and compares it to current regulations under the Clean Air Act. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Robert C. Pozen, October 17, 2011, Huffington Post
Robert Pozen examines Herman Cain's proposed 9-9-9 tax plan and finds that it would invert the tax code, shifting the greatest share of the tax burden away from the wealthy and towards the poor and middle class. Read More