Before We Reform Tax Policy, We Need to Know What Is Working
C. Eugene Steuerle | 9 March 2017
Fiscal,
Blog | Tags:
Tax Expenditures
Congress and President Trump are embarking on what is likely to be a major rewrite of the federal income tax code. Yet, neither they nor anyone else knows whether the hundreds of tax preferences embedded in the law accomplish their stated purposes.
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Inequality Should Matter for Central Banks
Liviu Voinea and
Pierre Monnin | 16 February 2017
Monetary,
Blog | Tags:
Central Banks,
Inequality,
Quantitative Easing
Central bankers have long been discreet about the links between monetary policy and inequality. They justify this reserve by the fact that their mandates do not charge them with addressing inequality and they generally argue that by providing price stability, central banks maintain the existing
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CGE Models vs Educated Guesswork: The Case of the EU-Korea FTA
Johannes Schwarzer | 17 January 2017
Trade,
Blog | Tags:
CETA,
TPP,
TTIP
A September 2016 research note by the European Commission on the effects of the EU-Korea Free Trade Agreement has recently been picked up in social media by various commentators. Amid rising skepticism around trade agreements and a tendency to question established wisdom, its 2-fold message is balm for the
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Pension Tax Expenditures. A Costly Christmas Gift … Not From Santa
Agustin Redonda | 4 January 2017
Fiscal,
Blog | Tags:
Fiscal,
Inequality,
Pensions,
Tax Expenditures
For people living in Switzerland, December 31 was the last day for 2016 contributions into their Pillar 3a retirement accounts – and hence for taking advantage of the exemption from income tax that these payments benefit from. The scheme is one of many examples from
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Climate Change, Carbon Pricing and Energy Tax Expenditures
Agustin Redonda | 6 October 2016
Fiscal,
Blog | Tags:
Carbon Pricing,
Climate Change,
Energy,
Tax Expenditures
Climate change is moving up policy agendas worldwide. Last year’s COP21 was yet another wake-up call that the international community needs to take urgent action to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The main outcome of the meeting, the Paris Agreement, was a significant milestone in
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South-South Preferential Trade Agreements in Services – Economic Potential Lying Idle
Charlotte Sieber-Gasser | 4 October 2016
Trade,
Blog | Tags:
Services Trade,
WTO
Imagine the Central African Republic and Cameroon investing in the compatibility and quality of their railway tracks, and eventually merging their railways altogether. The producers in the Central African Republic would get easy access to the sea, while Cameroon’s railway and ports would benefit from
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Quantitative Easing Is Back – But Will It Help the Real Economy?
Josh Ryan-Collins | 15 August 2016
Monetary,
Blog | Tags:
QE
Last week the Bank of England surprised commentators with the scale of its post-Brexit monetary stimulus package. It included a new £70bn round of quantitative easing (QE), the first since 2012, as well as the more widely predicted 0.25% cut to interest rates. The idea
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Governments Should Use Tax Systems to Drive Inclusive Growth Agenda
David Bradbury and
Bert Brys | 22 July 2016
Fiscal,
Blog | Tags:
Inequality,
Tax Expenditures,
Taxes
Tax policy design should play a key role in not only supporting growth but also in addressing distributional concerns. Taxes affect inequality through different channels. The most direct way in which taxes redistribute income is by narrowing the distribution of (post-tax) disposable income. Taxes can
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Are Tax Expenditures a Good Way to Redistribute?
Silvia Avram | 1 July 2016
Fiscal,
Blog | Tags:
Inequality,
Tax Expenditures,
Taxes
Since 2007, governments across several European countries have implemented cuts to their social programs in an attempt to tackle the fiscal deficits generated by the last economic and financial crisis. At the same time, they have increasingly made use of various tax related measures to
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Central Banking and Inequality – Taking Off the Blinders
Peter Dietsch,
Clément Fontan and
François Claveau | 16 June 2016
Monetary,
Blog | Tags:
Central Banks,
Ethics,
Inequality
Since the financial crisis, the relative importance of monetary policy in the toolbox of macroeconomic policies has increased. In parallel, we have seen a renewed social and political concern with rising inequalities in income and wealth. However, the two trends are rarely connected.[1] Despite studies
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