A Fusion Breakthrough?
Terence KealeyThe bombs that dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were fission bombs. When isotopes of uranium or plutonium break into smaller particles, energy is released, and the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombs channeled that energy into an explosion. In a civil nuclear power generator, by contrast, the release of fission energy is controlled, and used to power the electrical grid.The energy from the sun comes from fusion. Under the weight of the sun ’s gravity, and channeled by vast heat, isotopes of hydrogen fuse with each other to create a new, heavier, element called helium. Helium, indeed, was first detected in the sun...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - December 15, 2022 Category: American Health Authors: Terence Kealey Source Type: blogs
Fiscal Illusion and Deficit Spending
Romina BocciaAmericans are under a fiscal illusion. High and persistent deficits and debt pass a large share of the cost of government spending to future generations. This leads to greater demand for government than if taxpayers were internalizing the full cost today.According to theCongressional Budget Office (CBO), the annual federal deficit is projected to total roughly $1.6 trillion over the next 10 years. That’s the amount by which federal spending will exceed tax revenue, on average, each year. These deficits will grow the federal debt held by the public to 110 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) by 2032,...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - December 14, 2022 Category: American Health Authors: Romina Boccia Source Type: blogs
Senator Brown ’s New Bill Will Help Big Banks
Norbert MichelSenator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) hasjust introduced the“Close the Shadow Banking Loophole Act,” a bill he claims will prevent “Big Tech and commercial companies” from operating banks “without proper oversight.” While the title–and the reasoning–might sound ominous, this bill does virtually nothing to ensure the safety and soundness of th e banking sector. (Theshadow banking theme is flawed too, but let ’s leave that aside for now.)It ’s also strange that Senator Brown, someoneknown to stick up for the little guy, is behind a bill that undoubtedly protects large financial institutions from comp...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - December 8, 2022 Category: American Health Authors: Norbert Michel Source Type: blogs
Should We Worry That the 118th Congress Will Be Unproductive?
David BoazIn the Washington PostGillian Brockell explores how the House of Representatives has functioned in the past when it was very closely divided. The answer seems less encouraging than she suggests. In 1917, for instance, the Republicans had a plurality of seats, but not a majority, and third ‐party members joined the Democrats to elect a Democratic speaker. Did that divide cause gridlock? Not enough, in my view:The 65th Congress was remarkably productive — not only did it authorize a declaration of war by a 373 –50 vote, it also passed the 18th Amendment prohibiting alcohol, which r...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - December 7, 2022 Category: American Health Authors: David Boaz Source Type: blogs
Disney ’s Private Provision of Public Goods
David BoazQuite aside from the politics of DeSantis vs. Disney, I learned some interesting things inthis article about Disney ’s “special taxing district” and about the private provision of public goods on Disney’s vast Florida property. First off, the Reedy Creek Improvement District (RCID) is not a tax break for Disney:Disney pays property taxes to Orange and Osceola County at the same millage rate as all other county taxpayers (totaling nearly $300 million from 2015 to 2020). The Florida Constitution does not allow taxpayers within a county to be treated differentlyunless those taxpayers consent t...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - December 2, 2022 Category: American Health Authors: David Boaz Source Type: blogs
Federal Taxes: 1958 and 2019
Chris EdwardsWe often hear that politicians have slashed tax rates on the rich repeatedly at the expense of other groups since Ronald Reagan was in office. AWashington Post reportnoted, “Many economists say decades of cuts to income tax rates on the highest earners are one of the drivers of the runaway inequality that’s come to characterize the modern U.S. economy.”A newopinion column at Bloomberg claims, “In the past four decades, Congress after Congress has cut taxes on the richest people and corporations . . . In the four decades since ERTA [1981] was signed, Republicans — with some assists from Democrats — ...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - December 1, 2022 Category: American Health Authors: Chris Edwards Source Type: blogs
Policy Options Abundant to Improve Housing Affordability for Families
Vanessa Brown CalderThere are many policies that reduce the supply of goods and services that parents and children need, and therefore lead to rising costs for family necessities like food, housing, clothing, transportation, and childcare. Policies including tariffs, regulations, and licensing rules reduce affordability, while the value of parents ’ wages erodes due to historically high inflation.However, housing arguably constitutes the most substantial and most inescapable financial costs associated with raising a child. U.S. Department of Agriculture figures indicate that for families, the cost of housing is the large...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - November 30, 2022 Category: American Health Authors: Vanessa Brown Calder Source Type: blogs
Abundant Policy Options Available to Improve Housing Affordability for Families
Vanessa Brown CalderThere are many policies that reduce the supply of goods and services that parents and children need, and therefore lead to rising costs for family necessities like food, housing, clothing, transportation, and childcare. Policies including tariffs, regulations, and licensing rules reduce affordability, while the value of parents ’ wages erodes due to historically high inflation.However, housing arguably constitutes the most substantial and most inescapable financial cost associated with raising a child. U.S. Department of Agriculture figures indicate that for families, the cost of housing is the larges...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - November 30, 2022 Category: American Health Authors: Vanessa Brown Calder Source Type: blogs
Cut the Earned Income Tax Credit
Chris EdwardsIn the newCato Handbook for Policymakers,I propose cutting the earned income tax credit (EITC). I previously critiqued the credit inthis study with Veronique de Rugy. While the credit receives support from both parties in Congress, the closer you look the more flawed it appears.The EITC provides benefits to households with earnings from employment. In 2021, it provided $71 billion in benefits to 27 million recipients. The EITC is mainly a spending program, not a tax ‐cutting program. The credit is “refundable,” meaning that individuals who pay no income taxes receive payments from ...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - November 29, 2022 Category: American Health Authors: Chris Edwards Source Type: blogs
Housing Supply and Property Taxes
Chris EdwardsIn many cities, a shortage of housing supply has led to high housing prices. One problem is thatstrict zoning rules have undermined the construction of multifamily housing.Property taxes are another barrier to increased housing supply. TheWall Street Journalhas an interesting piece suggesting that taxing buildings as much as, or more than, land induces landlords to hold onto land undeveloped, rather than pushing ahead with building projects.The article highlights land in New York City near the U.N. that is zoned for construction of 1,500 apartments but has been empty for 17 years while the “owner h...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - November 23, 2022 Category: American Health Authors: Chris Edwards Source Type: blogs
Income Inequality, Social Mobility, and Economic Freedom
Ryan BourneShould we much care about income inequality?I don ’t think so. Yet one pushback I get, even from some classical liberals, is that high income inequality diminishes social mobility. This, they say, really should really worry me – for it makes our society less dynamic and prosperous.Their theory is that high income inequality today means greater opportunities for the children of the rich. Perhaps they might benefit from relatively more investment in their education or can better afford to take the best low ‐paid internships. Either way, more unequal societies might deliver lower levels of interg...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - November 17, 2022 Category: American Health Authors: Ryan Bourne Source Type: blogs
Five Lame Duck Threats to Avoid
Romina BocciaNow that the midterm elections have passed, members of Congress are back in Washington and up to no good. Congress punted on appropriations which they were supposed to finish before September 30th, by kicking the deadline into the middle of the lame duck. That continuing resolution is set to expire on December 16th, after which date the federal government would partially shut down.There ’s a huge slate of issues that could get tacked onto that “must-pass” bill that threatens taxpayers with trillions of dollars in new spending. And there’s a simple solution.Punt on appropriations bills once more and kic...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - November 17, 2022 Category: American Health Authors: Romina Boccia Source Type: blogs
Tax Increases and the Great Depression
Chris EdwardsDid tax increases deepen and extend the Great Depression?That is one topic explored in a new book by Art Laffer, Brian Domitrovic, and Jeanne Cairns Sinquefield,Taxes Have Consequences: An Income Tax History of the United States. The authors include a discussion of federal, state, and local tax increases during the 1930s.Many economists would point to monetary policy mistakes for causing the initial slide into the Great Depression. The nation ’s money supply fellnearly 30 percent between 1930 and 1933.But Laffer and coauthors argue that the “chief cause of the Great Depression was taxation.” That is ...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - November 16, 2022 Category: American Health Authors: Chris Edwards Source Type: blogs
New Analysis Finds Expanded Child Tax Credit Reduces Work and Growth
Vanessa Brown CalderNew analysis produced by the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) finds that extending the American Rescue Plan ’s (ARP) Child Tax Credit (CTC) expansion would result in costly economic consequences.Last year ’s CTCexpansion increased the credit up to $3,600 per qualifying child (from $2,000), including a bonus for children under six years old. The expansion also eliminated the income (read: work) requirement and allowed the full value of the credit to be refunded. This ensures that the tax “credit” functions more like a welfare program administered through the tax code.Combining two different macr...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - November 16, 2022 Category: American Health Authors: Vanessa Brown Calder Source Type: blogs
