Search Results
Journal Article
A primer on the nature of business cycles
Discussions of the effects of monetary and fiscal policy sometimes center on the impact of such policies in ameliorating fluctuations associated with the business cycle. However, though familiar with the term "business cycle," many people are not aware of what it refers to exactly. In this article, Gregory Huffman presents an explanation of the term and provides a detailed illustration of post-World War II U.S. business cycles. He also contrasts the behavior of various U.S. economic time series over the business cycle with similar Canadian statistics and points out some apparent anomalies ...
Working Paper
The political economy of endogenous taxation and redistribution
This paper examines a simple dynamic model in which agents vote over capital income taxation and redistributive transfers. We show that in equilibrium the typical agent's preferences over the tax rate are single-peaked and derive a closed-form solution for the majority-rule tax rate. We also show that high levels of initial wealth inequality can place the economy on the 'wrong side of the Laffer curve'.
Report
On the existence and uniqueness of nonoptimal equilibria in dynamic stochastic economies
The question of the existence and uniqueness of a stationary equilibrium for distorted versions of the standard neoclassical growth model is addressed in this paper. The conditions presented guaranteeing the existence and uniqueness of nontrivial equilibrium for the class of economies under study are simple and intuitively appealing, while the existence and uniqueness proof developed is elementary. Examples are presented illustrating that economies with distortional taxation, endogenous growth with externalities, and monopolistic competition can all fit into the framework developed.
Report
Tax analysis in a real business cycle model: on measuring Harberger triangles and Okun gaps
A tax distorted real business cycle model is parameterized, calibrated, and solved numerically in an attempt to measure the size of Harberger Triangles relative to Okun Gaps. In particular, the model constructed is used to study, quantitatively, the impact of various distortional government tax and subsidy schemes. It is shown that the government can use tax policy to stabilize cyclical fluctuations, and this is done for the economy being studied. The benefits of implementing such a stabilization policy are calculated and compared with the size of the welfare gains realized from reducing ...
Working Paper
The accuracy of the grid approximation method
Working Paper
On the political economy of immigration
Working Paper
Inequality, inflation, and central bank independence
What can account for the different contemporaneous inflation experiences of various countries, and of the same country over time? We present an analysis of the determination of inflation from a political economy perspective. We document a positive correlation between income inequality and inflation and then present a theory of the determination of inflation outcomes in democratic societies that illustrates how greater inequality leads to greater inflation, owing to a desire by voters for wealth redistribution. We conclude by showing that democracies with more independent central banks tend to ...
Working Paper
On the fluctuations induced by majority voting