Search Results
Journal Article
Taxing electronic commerce: boon or boondoggle?
Journal Article
State balanced-budget and debt rules
Balanced-budget rules alone are not sufficient to ensure states? long-term fiscal health.
Journal Article
Light rail: boon or boondoggle?
Proponents of such mass transit recite a litany of benefits, but the cost to taxpayers is high.>
Journal Article
Stop paying more for less: ways to boost productivity in higher education
College tuition has increased dramatically over the past decade, yet few think the quality of graduates has kept up. Decentralizing the administration and privatizing such things as housing and food service would boost productivity, as would ditching tenure and improving teaching.
Report
Economic Effects of the 1918 Influenza Pandemic: Implications for a Modern-day Pandemic
The possibility of a worldwide influenza pandemic in the near future is of growing concern for many countries around the globe. Many predictions of the economic and social costs of a modern-day influenza pandemic are based on the effects of the influenza pandemic of 1918. This report begins by providing a brief historical background on the 1918 influenza pandemic, a short-lived, but tragic event that has all but escaped the public's consciousness today. Detailed influenza mortality statistics for cities and states, including those in the Eighth Federal Reserve District, are presented. These ...
Working Paper
Local price variation and the tax incidence of state lotteries
This paper explores the seemingly innocuous practice of ignoring the local price vector in empirical models of lottery demand. We argue using consumer theory that local consumption prices should be included and that the failure to consider local prices results in income elasticity of lottery demand estimates that are biased downward. Using a sample of MSAs, we find that, in accordance with our theory, local prices are a significant determinant of lottery sales and the income elasticity of demand for lotteries is greater in magnitude when the local price vector is considered. The degree of ...
Newsletter
U.S. income inequality: it’s not so bad
Journal Article
The taking of prosperity? Kelo vs. New London and the economics of eminent domain
The forced sale of homes for private development usually results in a zero-sum gain and may actually hinder development in the area, economists have found.
Journal Article
Neighboring cities show job trends that are far apart
Journal Article
Saving for a rainy day?