Econ Comments & Analysis
WSJ | Governor 13.3%
It's hard to believe now, but Jerry Brown once ran for President as a reformer who favored a flat tax with a 13% top federal rate. That was 1992. Nowadays in his second stint as Governor, he's running to give California alone a higher top income-tax rate.
WSJ | Death Tax Defying
While Washington continues to debate what to do with the federal death tax—the top rate is now 35% and is scheduled to rise to 55% next year—states are starting to recognize that their high estate taxes are a good way to chase away wealth producers.
Blogs
Library of Economics | The Problem with a Variable Tax on Gasoline
Other economists suggest a gasoline tax that would increase as gasoline prices fall toward a predetermined floor and decrease as pump prices rise above it.
Greg Mankiw | The Looming Recession Threat
The recent payroll gains and the declining unemployment rate in the United States have raised hopes that the economy will now start growing faster than the tepid 1.7 per cent rate of last year. Optimists are expecting growth rates as high as three per cent for this year and next.
