Weekly Economic Update: April 24 – April 28, 2017
This week's Weekly Economic Update's Chart of the Week shows that tax freedom shrunk under the Obama Administration.
March State Unemployment Reports
An in-depth look at the employment situation in each state.
French Elections, the Eurozone, and the EU's Fate
An economic perspective on the French presidential election and the risks "Frexit" poses to Europe's financial system and economy. Leaving the Eurozone is unlikely to solve France's economic challenges. Domestic pro-growth reforms are more likely to boost economic growth and reduce unemployment.
President Obama's Distressing Economic Legacy
CBO revises federal debt projections again. Last month the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released its Long-Term Budget Outlook (LTBO) for 2017. The document includes forecasts of the publicly held debt-to-GDP ratio through 2047. In what has become a recurring warning, CBO cautions policymakers ...
Ten Reasons to Reform the Tax Code: Reason #10
Why business investment matters. In the current recovery, business investment in new equipment, buildings, and land has lagged behind other modern recoveries and even declined last year. This kind of investment fuels the future growth of a business and spurs the productivity that helps boost wages f...
Ten Reasons to Reform the Tax Code: Reason #9
Uncompetitive double taxation. The tax code makes death a taxable event, imposing an estate tax of up to 40 percent on the value of assets owned by Americans when they pass away. This is the 4th-highest rate among developed countries
Weekly Economic Update: April 17 - April 21, 2017
It took an estimated 8.9 billion hours to comply with IRS tax filing requirements in 2016 (the equivalent of 4.3 million full-time employees working solely on tax paperwork). Overall, filing 2016’s taxes cost Americans a projected $409 billion. The first 9 items in the chart account for over 90% of ...
Ten Reasons to Reform the Tax Code: Reason #8
Uncompetitive double tax. During the Obama administration, the top tax rate on capital gains and dividends surged from 15 percent to 23.8 percent, including Obamacare taxes. While this rate appears lower than rates that apply to ordinary income, capital gains face other layers of taxation, including...
Ten Reasons to Reform the Tax Code: Reason #7
Internationally uncompetitive. Nearly all countries in the OECD have moved to a territorial system under which their businesses pay little or no tax to the home country when in a foreign market. In contrast, American-headquartered companies competing in the same market not only pay the host country...
The Myth of the ‘Senior Tax’
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) established a nationwide standard for age-based variations in health insurance premiums. This restriction limited the cost difference between the oldest age categories (64+ years old) and the youngest (21 years old) to a 3:1 ratio.
