Publications By Type
Document Type: Commentary
What's blocking the recovery (Commentary)
Author(s):
Alan Berube , Karen Dynan , Ted Gayer
The Washington Post. The economy's expansion last quarter, for the first time in more than a year, has prompted much speculation that the recession is over. This turning point, however, simply marks an end to the decline in activity.
Published: 11/20/09
Availability:
HTML
Personal savings need a boost (Commentary)
Author(s):
Leonard E. Burman
The Washington Times. America's days of economic dominance are numbered because we don't save. The government is borrowing like crazy, and households aren't doing much better. The personal savings rate -- the share of after-tax income that people set aside for a rainy day -- has been falling like a stone since the early 1980s.
Published: 11/10/09
Availability:
HTML
Fix health care. But fix the deficits, too (Commentary)
Author(s):
Alan J. Auerbach , William G. Gale
CNNMoney.com, Op-Ed.
Obama and other policymakers need to pay more attention to a fundamental conflict underlying the health care debate: People want the federal government to do much more than they are willing to pay for through their taxes.
Published: 09/09/09
Availability:
HTML
Pyrrhic victory on health reform? (Commentary)
Author(s):
Leonard E. Burman
Washington Times op-ed. Leonard Burman discusses the politics of the health care reform debate.
Published: 09/01/09
Availability:
HTML
Catastrophic Budget Failure (Opinion)
Author(s):
Leonard E. Burman
In a Washington Times op-ed, Len Burman explains why even this gloom-and-doom outlook is "wildly over-optimistic." The latest CBO budget outlook predicts a bleak scenario if we don't change our current policies.
Published: 07/14/09
Availability:
HTML
Here Comes the Next Fiscal Crisis (Commentary)
Author(s):
Alan J. Auerbach , William G. Gale
Los Angeles Times op-ed, July 8, 2009. In the immediate future, policymakers will face a delicate balancing act between encouraging economic recovery and establishing fiscal sustainability. Alan J. Auerbach and William G. Gale examine the economic challenges facing the U.S.
Published: 07/10/09
Availability:
HTML
Give Up A Benefit, Gain Jobs (Commentary)
Author(s):
Leonard E. Burman
Washington Post op-ed, July 9, 2009. Employer-paid health insurance is entirely tax-free — a break that will cost the Treasury about $250 billion this year. Len Burman looks at tax-free health insurance provided by employers.
Published: 07/10/09
Availability:
HTML
Different Way to Pay for Health Reform (Commentary)
Author(s):
Leonard E. Burman
Washington Times op-ed, May 19, 2009. Expanding health-care access is a top priority for the Obama administration, and leaders in Congress are on board. Political leaders also agree that any health insurance expansion must not increase the deficit. So how do we pay for health care without sinking the economy? The best option would be to phase in a value-added tax (VAT) dedicated to paying for health care. Packaged with the right bells and whistles, the VAT would help revive the economy, offset the burden on low-income families, and help slow health-care costs.
Published: 05/28/09
Availability:
HTML
|
PDF
Economic Minefields (Commentary)
Author(s):
Rudolph G. Penner
Institute Fellow Rudy Penner questions the costs and after-effects of heavy economic stimulus. There is a path out of our misery, he says, but it is surrounded by big and little mines, some of which have been planted by public policy.
Published: 04/02/09
Availability:
HTML
newsletter archive
by topic