VIDEO
William G. Gale, April 15, 2009
William Gale says the current tax system is too complicated, inequitable and inefficient. He says President Obama has to take the lead on reforming the tax code and that taxpayers should anticipate a future of higher taxes and fewer tax cuts.
PAST EVENT
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
12:30 PM to 1:30 PM
Washington, DC
President Obama approved the expansion and extension of the homebuyer tax credit initially approved as part of the economic stimulus package. While this move is intended to spur home sales, many experts argue that extending the tax credit is bad policy. On Wednesday, November 11, Ted Gayer and Politico Senior Editor Fred Barbash will be online to answer your questions about the homebuyer tax credit in a live web chat. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Ted Gayer, November 11, 2009, The Brookings Institution
On Wednesday, November 11, Ted Gayer and Fred Barbash participated in a live web chat on the extended homebuyer tax credit, debating whether or not President Obama should have let it expire. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Ted Gayer, October 28, 2009, The Brookings Institution
Some economists and policymakers are discussing the idea of a value added tax (VAT) as a way to solve our deficit problems. Ted Gayer looks at the VAT through the prism of behavioral economics and warns that policymakers could use insights gleaned from this field of economics to deliberately temper healthy economic and political constraints on the growth of government. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Elizabeth Kneebone, October 21, 2009, National Community Tax Coalition
At the National Community Tax Coalition’s inaugural Day of Action on Capitol Hill, Elizabeth Kneebone discussed how the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 increased support for low-income working families. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Henry J. Aaron and Isabel V. Sawhill, October 13, 2009, The Washington Post
Although health care reform is intended to bend the curve of spending and reduce the deficit, it alone will not be enough, say Henry Aaron and Isabel Sawhill. They propose that Congress enact a value-added tax, the equivalent of a broad-based sales tax on all goods and services. The revenue from the new tax, and other sources, should be linked directly to public health care spending through a newly created trust fund which would pay for all federal health care spending. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Jeffrey R. Kling, William J. Congdon and Sendhil Mullainathan, June 16, 2009, The Brookings Institution
Behavioral economics is changing our understanding of how economic policy operates – including tax policy. In this paper, William J. Congdon, Jeffrey R. Kling and Sendhil Mullainathan consider some implications of behavioral economics for tax policy, such as how it changes our understanding of the welfare consequences of taxation, the relative desirability of using the tax system as a platform for policy implementation and the role of taxes as an element of policy design. Read More
VIDEO
William G. Gale, June 05, 2009
As the administration continues to wrangle with the floundering economy, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke has advised that the growing budget deficits have to be cut. Economic Studies director William Gale agrees saying there needs to be a more comprehensive approach to stabilizing the economy.
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
PAST EVENT
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
12:30 PM to 1:30 PM
Washington, DC
On tax day in the United States, Leonard Burman, director of the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center, took questions about what the Obama administration should do to create a fair and equitable tax system during an online web chat moderated by Politico Senior Editor Fred Barbash. Read More
VIDEO
Ron Haskins, March 27, 2009
Ron Haskins, co-director of Brookings’s Center on Children and Families, says President Obama’s budget is unsustainable and adds that it will likely fail to help restore fiscal solvency to the nation’s economy. Haskins says unless lawmakers are willing to compromise on key issues the fiscal situation will worsen.
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Alice M. Rivlin, March 26, 2009, The Washington Post
President Barack Obama’s budget is the subject of floor debate in the House and Senate this week. Alice Rivlin says that the budget offers good remedies for America’s economic ills, but urges Congress to make it even better by paying for the new investments and reducing the long-term deficits. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Isabel V. Sawhill, February 26, 2009, The Guardian
In order to overcome trillion-dollar deficits, the president must get spending under control – and muster a lot of political will says Isabel Sawhill: First, by getting Health Care spending under control; second, by putting Social Security on a sound financial basis; and finally by raising revenues. Read More
PAST EVENT
Friday, February 20, 2009
9:00 AM to 1:30 PM
Washington, DC
The Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center (TPC) and the International Tax Policy Forum held a half-day conference to assess the extent to which the U.S. tax system differs from international norms and whether these differences affect U.S. economic performance. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
William G. Gale, January 30, 2009, NPR's All Things Considered
In 2006, the 400 richest Americans had an average income of $263 million, a 23 percent jump over the previous year, the Internal Revenue Service says. That same year, the very wealthy paid, on average, an effective tax rate of 17 percent — the lowest in 15 years. NPR's All Things Considered host Robert Siegel discusses the issue with Bill Gale. Read More