Boom:

Lindsey, Lawrence B. "The Seventeen-Year Boom," On the Issues, American Enterprise Institute, March 2000. The current economic expansion can be attributed to policy decisions made in the early 1980's such as deregulation, tax cuts and supply side management of inflation expectations, labor and capital, all of which allowed the markets to operate more freely. Length: 2 pages. Level: General. Online-HTML

Schmitt, John. "Demand drives U.S. jobs success," Viewpoints, Economic Policy Institute, published in The Guardian, September 4, 2000. Growth in the U.S. economy has been driven by low interest rates and high consumer spending, not by labor market flexibility. It is wrong to attribute slow growth in Europe to a rigid labor market when the real reason is the high interest rates maintained by the European Central Bank. Length: 2 pages. Level: General. Online-HTML

Schmitt, John. "Economic 'Boom' of the 1990's Is a Bust for the Middle Class," Viewpoints, Economic Policy Institute, published in the Chicago Tribune, September 6, 1999. During the 1990's, the living standards of middle class families did not grow as fast as those of the upper classes. This is due to the decline in the unions, international trade policies and the decline of American manufacturing. Length: 2 pages. Level: General. Online-HTML

Auerbach, Alan. "In the Long Term, the U.S. Still Faces Deficits," Digest, National Bureau of Economic Research, March 1998, summary of a paper. Medicare and Medicaid spending are projected to rise to 12 percent of GDP by 2070, a figure that could discourage private investment and shake confidence in the dollar. Policy makers would be well advised to consider ways to achieve a long-run fiscal budget balance through reforms to the Medicare and Medicaid systems, before the Baby Boomers begin retiring. Length: 1 page. Level: General. Online-HTML

Auerbac, Alan J. and William G. Gale. "How Big is the Prospective Budget Surplus?" Policy Brief #64, The Brookings Institution, September 2000. Between 2001 and 2010, necessary budget adjustments -- for discretionary spending, tax policy, the Social Security trust fund, and other retirement funds -- reduce the surplus available for new spending drastically. The official surplus calculations are misplaced, and projections for future spending and tax cuts are misinformed. Length: 7 pages. Level: Intermediate. Online-HTML

Beach, William W. "How Congress Can Return the Surplus to Taxpayers: Three Approaches to Tax Cuts and Social Security Reform", The Heritage Foundation Backgrounder, No. 1219, September 9, 1998. Discusses three plans that would use current and future budget surpluses to reduce income taxes and reform Social Security. Length: 34 pages Level: general Online-HTML

Elkin, Sam. "Without Reductions in Discretionary Programs, There Would Be Little Budget Surplus", Center on Budget and Policy Priorities Report, March 23, 1999. Claims that the majority of the budget surpluses predicted for the next few years depend on reductions in discretionary (non-entitlement) programs. Length: 5 pages Level: general Online-HTML

Faux, Jeff. "Budget Surplus Politics: The Money is Ours," Viewpoints, Economic Policy Institute, published in the Albany Times Union, July 27, 1999. The Republican proposed tax cut will only benefit the upper classes. A more equitable use of the budget surplus would be to continue funding government social programs such as HeadStart. Length: 2 pages. Level: General. Online-HTML

Gale, William G. "A 'Surplus' We Need", Washington Post, October 16, 1998. Disagrees with James K. Glassman's assertion that the current and future budget surpluses should be used for tax cuts. Gale believes that the surplus should be used to save Social Security and Medicare. Length: 2 pages Level: general Online-HTML

Gale, William G., "Tax Cut's Trillion-Dollar Question," Christian Science Monitor, August 2, 1999. Argues vigorously against the Republican-proposed tax cut. Length: 3 pages Level: general Online-HTML

Gale, William G. "Tax-Cutting Frenzy: Living it up today at the expense of a tenuous financial future", Christian Science Monitor, August 27, 1998. Claims that the current budget surplus should be used for repairing Social Security and Medicare. Length: 2 pages Level: general Online-HTML

Glassman, James K., "Four Threats to Prosperity," The Washington Post, June 16, 1998. Identifies the budget surplus as one of four threats to American prosperity, because of the likelihood that it will lead to increased spending. Online-HTML

Glassman, James K. "The Surplus: Cheer and Fear", Washington Post October 13, 1998. Discusses and gives reasons for the 1998 budget surplus. Length: 2 pages Level: general Online-HTML

Kuttner, Robert, "A Few Uses for Our New Budget Surplus," Economic Policy Network, Idea Central, Mar/Apr 1998. Identifies several uses for the budget surplus, including spending it. Online-HTML

Lindsey, Lawrence B., "Fiscal Policy Discovers Irrational Exuberance," On the Issues, American Enterprise Institute, September 1997. Evaluates the budget surplus and attributes most of it to the stock market. Level: intermediate Length: 4 pages Online-HTML

Lindsey, Lawrence B. "What to Do With $1 Trillion More in Taxes," American Enterprise Institute - On the Issues, August 1999. This article says that the budget surplus should be returned to the people because it is their tax dollars that created it. Length: 3 pages. Level: General. Online-HTML

Penner, Rudolph. "Money, Money Everywhere," Commentary, The Urban Institute, March 2000. The budget surplus should be used to retire a major percentage of the national debt before any further spending proposals or tax cuts are implemented. Length: 5 pages. Level: General. Online-PDF

Rasell, Edith. "American Taxpayers Deserve to Profit From the Federal Budget Surplus," Viewpoints, Economic Policy Institute, published in (New York) Newsday, July 4, 1999. Saving a large percentage of the current surplus to pay off Social Security in the future will only slow down current economic growth. Length: 2 pages. Level: General. Online-HTML

Rivlin, Alice M. "A Budget Too Flush to Fight About," Brookings Institution Opinion Piece, published in The New York Times, November 12, 1999. Discusses the successes of some recent Presidential administrations in balancing the budget and some very basic economic implications of maintaining a growing surplus. Length: 2 pages. Level: General. Online-HTML

Sawicky, Max. "Doing the Budget Right," Viewpoints, Economic Policy Institute, published in USA TODAY, January 19, 1999. The Federal government should use the projected budget surplus to fund infrastructure, training and education projects which will maintain the current economic growth. Length: 2 pages.Level: General.Online-HTML

Stein, Herbert, "How To Think About the Surplus," Wall Street Journal, August 4, 1999. Identifies a list of issues that should be considered in decided whether or not to favor a tax cut. Length: 3 pages Level: general Online-HTML (Proquest, UM only)

Stevenson, Richard W., "A Debate Over Dividing Tax Dollars Yet to Be Collected," New York Times, August 10, 1999. A balanced overview of the three main positions regarding how fiscal policy should respond to the current budget surplus: cut taxes, increase spending, and reduce the debt. Length: 4 pages Level: general Online-HTML (Proquest, UM only)

Wray, L. Randall. "Surplus Mania: A Reality Check," Policy Notes, The Jerome Levy Economics Institute, 1999/3. A federal government surplus has finally been achieved, and it has been met with pronouncements that it is a great gift for the future and with arguments about what to do with it. However, the surplus will be short-lived, it will depress economic growth, and, in any case, surpluses cannot be "used" for anything. Length: 5 pages. Level: Intermediate. Online-HTML

Scmitt, John. "No, the old business cycle has not yet been licked," Viewpoints, Economic Policy Institute, published in London's The Guardian, February 12, 2000. There is some doubt as to whether the 1990's will really prove to be such a successful economic boom. In particular, low unemployment and productivity gains must continue, economic growth must be distributed equally, and growth in the stock market hides the fact that many low-income families lack access to health care. Length: 2 pages. Level: General. Online-HTML

Henderson, David R. "The Best of All Possible Worlds," Digest 1999 No. 2, The Hoover Institution, published in Red Herring, November 1998. The most significant achievement of capitalism has been the vast amount of material goods and choices available to average people today which were once enjoyed only by the very wealthy. Length: 3 pages. Level: General. Online-HTML

Morse, Jennifer R. "Class Struggle or Natural Harmony?" Weekly Essays, The Hoover Institution, August 14, 2000. In the wake of the failed communist system of political economy, activists have re-created class struggle based on social groups, which has created many harmful divisions within American society. Length: 2 pages. Level: General.Online-HTML

Hattiangadi, Anita U. "The Facts About Pay Equity", Employment Policy Foundation Fact or Fallacy, Volume V., No. 3, 1999. Because the earnings gap between men and women is due to many factors besides gender discrimination, comparable worth legislation would be largely ineffective. Length: 7 pages Level: general Online-HTML

Appelbaum, Eileen. "U.S. Consumer Spending -- A Detour to Prosperity?" Viewpoints, Economic Policy Institute, published in the Ft. Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel, April 5, 1999. The level of consumer debt is cause for concern since a sudden downturn or economic shock could bankrupt many families. Length: 2 pages. Level: General. Online-HTML

Baker, Dean, "The Inflated Case Against the CPI," The American Prospect 7, December 1, 1996. Argues that Boskin report analysis was incorrect in claiming a 1% upward bias in the CPI. Length: 6 pages Level: general Online-HTML

Boskin, Michael, "Prisoners of Faulty Statistics," On the Issues, American Enterprise Institute, January 1997. The chair of the Congressional Advisory Commission on the Consumer Price Index explains its recommendation that the CPI be revised to cut 1.1 percentage points from the reported rate of inflation. Online-HTML

Citro, Constance F. and John E. Rolph, "Sound Numbers Make for Sound Government," National Academies Op-Ed Service Archive, March 9, 2001. Argues the importance of having government produced statistics, such as GDP and the CPI, produced by independent and profesional government agencies, imune from political pressures. Length: 1 page Level: general Online-HTML

Gordon, Robert. "Recent CPI Revisions," Digest, National Bureau of Economic Research, October 2000, summary of a paper. Primarily because of the reforms instituted since the Boskin report, the current upward bias of the CPI is in the range of 0.65 percent, down from the 1.1 percent that the report estimated existed for the 1995-6 period. However, the Bureau of Labor Statistics has implemented revised procedures to eliminate or moderate upward bias attributable to substitution bias, quality change, and new product introductions. Length: 1 page. Level: General. Online-HTML

"Quality of Goods and Services Shows Overall Decline in Past Year," April 1997 news release from University of Michigan Business School and economist Claes Fornell. Reports results from the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) indicating that customers perceive quality as declining. Length: 2 pages Level general Online-HTML

Law, Marc and Jason Clemens. "The Life Cycle-Permanent Income Hypothesis: How We Spend," Forum, The Fraser Institute, January 1998. According to a theory developed by Milton Friedman, the true measure of an individual's consumption is not current income but rather the individual's permanant income, defined as the annuity expected based on the present value of his or her future earnings. Policy implications relate to the changes in consumption an individual will make in response to events such as tax cuts and unemployment. Length: 3 pages. Level: Intermediate. Online-HTML

Gentry, William and Glenn Hubbard. "Tax on Consumption Isn't Quite What You Might Think," Digest, National Bureau of Economic Research, July 1997, summary of a paper. Introducing a consumption tax would not leave all income from capital untaxed, only that portion attributable to a riskless investment. Furthermore, the share of taxes paid by the wealthiest Americans would remain quite high under a consumption tax. Length: 1 page. Level: General. Online-HTML

Judd, Kenneth L. "Time to End the Corporate Income Tax," Weekly Essays, The Hoover Institution, June 12, 2000. The corporate income tax distorts the allocation of capital between partnerships and corporations and should be eliminated to encourage more innovation and risk-taking by firms. Length: 2 pages. Level: General. Online-HTML

Krugman, Paul. "Can Deflation be Prevented?" What's New, February 1999. Deflationary pressures are caused largely by an excess of saving over investment, even at near zero percent interest rate levels. The solution in this case may be to induce moderate to high inflation through radical central bank policy such as acquiring a substantial share of outstanding assets through open market operations. Length: 5 pages. Level: Intermediate. Online-HTML

Krugman, Paul. "Deflationary Spirals," What's New, February 1999. Deflation is caused by negative real interest rates, made possible by significant deflation. The way out of this downward cycle is through monetary expansion which must be significant enough to break prevailing deflationary trends and provide sufficiently positive real rates of return for savings. Length: 4 pages. Level: Intermediate. Online-HTML

Perry, George L. "Is Deflation the Worry?" Policy Brief #41, The Brookings Institution, December 1998. Deflation should not be a worry for the U.S. economy since aggregate demand remains strong and the Fed would, in the case of a mild recession, be able to respond and help spur recovery. Length: 6 pages.Level: Intermediate.Online-HTML

Higgs, Robert. "Regime Uncertainty: Why the Great Depression Lasted So Long and Prosperity Resumed after the War," The Independent Review Vol. 1 No. 4, The Independent Institute, Spring 1997. Recovery from the Great Depression did not actually occur until after World War II, not during a period of "wartime prosperity" as is widely believed. This is due to the widespread lack of investor confidence during the Roosevelt years when private investment was increasingly restrained by expensive government programs. Length: 31 pages. Level: Intermediate. Online-HTML

Thorbecke, Willem. "Who Pays for Disinflation?" Public Policy Brief No. 38 (Summary and Highlights Only), The Jerome Levy Economics Institute, 1997. A policy of disinflation is unwise because it hurts those segments of the population - small businesses and low-wage workers - least able to afford it. Instead, the Fed should engineer a policy aimed at promoting growth and income equality instead of relentlessly working to reduce inflation. Length: 6 pages. Level: General. Online-HTML

Greenstein, Robert and Sam Elkin. "How Big is the Federal Government and Would the Administration's Budget Make it Bigger?", Center on Budget and Policy Priorities article, February 2, 1999. Refutes claims that we are returning to an era of "big government". Length: 14 pages Level: intermediate Online-HTML

"Fed Leadership and the 2000 Election", Financial Markets Center article, February 26, 1999. Describes how the selection of a new Fed. chair will be affected by the 2000 election. Gives background on the fed. chairmanship and a list of Presidents and their Fed. Chairs. Length: 5 pages Level: general Online-HTML

"IRS Ruling on Candidates for Reserve Bank Directorships", Financial Markets Center Article, February 11, 1999. The IRS has ruled that tax-exempt organizations do not engage in prohibited political activity by promoting candidates for Federal Reserve Bank directorships. Length: 8 pages Level: intermediate Online-HTML

"Discount Rate Actions in 1998", Financial Markets Center article, January 13, 1999. Describes a recent Financial Market Center analysis of discount rate records. Gives background on discount rates and links to other writings concerning discount rates. Length: 6 pages Level: intermediate Online-HTML

Godley, Wynne. "Drowning in Debt," Policy Notes, The Jerome Levy Economics Institute, 2000/6. The U.S. expansion has been driven to an unusual extent by falling personal saving and rising borrowing by the private sector. If this process goes into reverse, as has happened under comparable circumstances in other countries, there will be a severe recession unless there is a big relaxation in fiscal policy. Length: 5 pages. Level: Intermediate. Online-HTML

Godley, Wynne and L. Randall Wray. "Can Goldilocks Survive?" Policy Notes, The Jerome Levy Economics Institute, 1999/4. Despite strong growth, the U.S. economy faces a possible slowdown if the large private sector deficit is not remedied. The best way to do this is through targeted tax cuts and expansionary fiscal policy in the medium term so that economic growth can continue while private sector balance sheets improve. Length: 5 pages. Level: Intermediate. Online-HTML

Wray, L. Randall. "Can The Expansion Be Sustained? A Minskian View," Policy Notes, The Jerome Levy Economics Institute, 2000/5. Simply relying on monetary policy to fine-tune the current economy without some expansion of fiscal policy is dangerous. Should the economy start to slow and the Fed responds with an interest rate hike, the high level of private sector debt would bring economic growth to a halt. Instead, what is needed is a proactive policy of preparing fiscal policies that would take the place of consumer spending in the event of a slowdown. Length: 8 pages. Level: Intermediate. Online-HTML

Weller, Christian. "The Shape of Fiscal Stimulus: Spending vs. Tax Cuts," EPI Policy Memorandum, October 4, 2001. A fiscal stimulus should not take the form of a corporate tax cut or of a cut in capital gains taxes, as these will not have a significant positive effect on the economy. A stimulus should instead be targetted on spending increases and on temporary tax rebates for low- and middle-income families. Length: 1 page. Level: general. Online-HTML

Aschauer, David Alan. "How Big Should the Public Capital Stock Be?" Public Policy Brief No. 43 (Summary and Highlights only), 1998. When determining an economy's maximum growth potential, the ratio of public capital stock to private capital stock should be roughly 61 percent. Most parts of the country are currently below this optimal level of investment. Length: 6 pages. Level: Intermediate. Online-HTML

Brubaker, Earl R. "How Big a Budget Do the People Prefer?" The Independent Review Vol. 3, No. 2, The Independent Institute, Fall 1998. The process of formulating a public budget is extremely complex. It would be best improved by taking a fuller consideration of public opinion as well as the views of economists regarding the measurement and financing of public goods. Length: 17 pages. Level: Intermediate. Online-HTML

Clemens, Jason and Patrick Basham. "Is Big Government a Bargain?" Forum, The Fraser Institute, September 2000. The effect of Canada's high government spending has been to slow economic growth. This leads to an increased public tax burden and slower income growth. Length: 4 pages. Level: General. Online-HTML

Liht, Paul C. "Pressure to Grow," Policy Brief #65, The Brookings Institution, October 2000. Both presidential candidates are making promises that can only be kept by adding to the true size of government, as measured not only by the size of the federal civil service but also by the number of employees working indirectly for Uncle Sam under contracts and grants. Most notably, Bush and Gore both have vowed to increase military modernization. Length: 6 pages. Level: Intermediate. Online-HTML

Moudud, Jamee K. "Government Spending in a Growing Economy," Public Policy Brief No. 52 (Summary and Highlights only), The Jerome Levy Economics Institute, 1999. Investigation of both short-run and long run effects of government spending and of the distinctive long-run effects of different types of government spending suggests that indiscriminate deficit cutting will not lead to a rise in the long-run profit rate and may exacerbate poverty and inequality in the short and the long run. Length: 7 pages. Level: Intermediate. Online-HTML

Williams, Walter. "Growth and Government," Forum, The Fraser Institute, July 1998. A recent study concludes that there is an inverse relationship between government spending and economic growth. The role of government should be limited to providing legal and physical infrastructure for markets and a limited set of public goods. Length: 2 pages. Level: General. Online-HTML

Faux, Jeff. "Greenspan is bad for our economic health," Viewpoints, Economic Policy Institute, published in Newsday, April 18, 2000. The Chairman of the Federal Reserve is pursuing an overly conservative monetary policy. This could have a negative impact on the economy in areas such as job creation and wages. Instead, the Congress should assert itself and work to provide a better balance between the conservative Fed policy and the need for a better social safety net for many lower class citizens. Length: 2 pages. Level: General. Online-HTML

Lindsey, Lawrence B. "Alan Greenspan: A Wild and Crazy Guy," American Enterprise Institute - On the Issues, October 1999. This article says that while people might claim that the Fed is trying to hinder economic growth, they are actually the most optimistic group regarding the economy's sustainable growth rate. Length: 3 pages. Level: General. Online-HTML

Stevenson, Richard W. "Inside the Head of the Fed; Alan Greenspan's Journey to the New World Economy", New York Times, November 15, 1998. Article discusses the policies, behavior, and personality of Alan Greenspan. Length: 6 pages Level: general Online-HTML

Andres, Javier and Ignacio Hernando. "Does Inflation Harm Economic Growth," Digest, National Bureau of Economic Research, December 1997, summary of a paper. Inflation has a negative impact on growth rates, leading to long-term decline in per capita income. The effect of inflation is magnified when existing rates are low, making it more important for countries with low inflation rates to work to maintain them and thereby garner improved long-run economic performance. Length: 1 page. Level: General. Online-HTML

Bueno de Mesquita, Bruce. "Political Instability as a Source of Growth," Essays in Public Policy, The Hoover Institution, March 2000. Evidence shows that democratic systems, which are more responsive to the desires of their constituents, suffer from higher turnover of leadership than do autocratic regimes. However, this also leads to more effective discourse over competing public policies and, ultimately, to a healthier political and economic climate than an entrenched single-party system. Length: 14 pages. Level: Intermediate. Online-HTML

Rodrik, Dani. "Capital and Institutions Stimulate Growth," Digest, National Bureau of Economic Research, August 1997, summary of a paper. The single most important factor for a nation's long-term growth remains investment. The differences in performance of the East Asian nations since World War II can in large part be attributed to the varying soundness of their governing institutions as measured by quality of the bureaucracy, the rule of law, risk of expropriation, and repudiation of contracts by the government. Length: 1 page. Level: General. Online-HTML

Romer, Paul M. "It's All In Your Head," Digest 1999 No. 1, The Hoover Institution, published in Outlook 1998. Economic growth does not arise from sudden dramatic breakthroughs but rather through a continuous process of innovation and improvement brought about by a competitive free-market economic system. Length: 7 pages. Level: General. Online-HTML

Blanchflower, David and Andrew Oswald. "Changing Patterns of Income and Happiness," Digest, National Bureau of Economic Research, August 2000, summary of a paper. The gap in "happiness" between blacks and whites has narrowed over the past three decades. In addition, the happiness of women, despite gains in the job market and legislation aimed at reducing gender discrimination, has diminished greatly. Higher income is also associated with higher happiness, although not by as much as many economists might suppose. Length: 1 page. Level: General. Online-HTML

Beach, William W., Gareth G. Davis, Rea S. Hederman, Kirk Johnson, and Nina Skokraii Rees. "How Public Policy Reforms Would Unleash Hispanic America's Economic Potential", Heritage Foundation Backgrounder, No. 1227, October 16, 1998. Discusses a study that examines how certain changes in education, tax, and retirement policy would effect various socioeconomic groups. Focuses on results for Hispanic-Americans. Length: 46 pages Level: general Online-HTML

Beach, William W., D. Mark Wilson, Ralph A. Rector, Rea S. Hederman, and Aaron B. Schavey. "The Economic and Revenue Effects of Reducing Federal Income Tax Rates by 10 Percent", Report of Heritage Center for Data Analysis, No. 99-02, March 4, 1999. Discusses the income tax reduction's potential effects on tax revenues, the budget surplus, individual tax liabilities, and the economy. Length: 49 pages Level: intermediate Online-HTML

Bernstein, Jared. "Dr. King and the Dream of Full Employment," Viewpoints, Economic Policy Institute, published in the Durham Herald-Sun, March 8, 1999. While the U.S. economy may be close to full employment, equality gaps still exist with respect to civil rights. Length: 2 pages. Level: General. Online-HTML

Bernstein, Jared. "Widening gap a threat to the future," Viewpoints, Economic Policy Institute, published in The Baltimore Sun, February 14, 2000. Almost all the economic gains of the "New Economy" are going to the upper classes while lower and middle class families must work harder for less gain. Length: 2 pages. Level: General. Online-HTML

Dornbusch, Rudi. "US Inequality and Prosperity," Editorials, January 2000. A U.S. economic downturn would force the Fed to choose between preventing a stock market collapse and supporting the dollar. In addition, a downturn could increase the worrying trends toward greater poverty and inequality in the U.S. Length: 4 pages. Level: General. Online-HTML

Gokhale, Jagadeesh et al. "Social Security Increases Wealth Inequality," Digest, National Bureau of Economic Research, November 1999, summary of a paper by Jagadeesh Gokhale, Laurence Kotlikoff, James Sefton and Martin Weale. Income inequality can be exacerbated by the Social Security system since it essentially disenfranchises the children of low and middle income families from receiving inheritances. It does this by annuitizing a much larger share of the economic resources of poorer parents than of rich ones. Length: 1 page. Level: General. Online-HTML

Sawhill, Isabel V. "Still the Land of Opportunity?" Commentary, The Urban Institute, also published in The Public Interest, Spring 1999, No. 135. The United States has always taken pride in placing emphasis on the freedom of individuals to improve their lives through hard work and merit. Yet not everyone is born into conditions enabling such advancement. The key to addressing this gap is to improve our urban schools and family structures in ways that will benefit those who need it most. Length: 13 pages. Level: General. Online-HTML

Selick, Karen. "Power, Not Money, Is the Problem," Forum, The Fraser Institute, June 2000. The fact that individuals such as Bill Gates control more assets than many nations should not be cause for concern since economic power can not be abused as readily as political power. Length: 3 pages. Level: General. Online-HTML

Wilson, William Julius. "All Boats Rise. Now What?" Op-Ed, Kennedy School of Government, reprinted from The New York Times, April 12, 2000. High growth of productivity rates since 1995 has led to promising wage growth, lower unemployment, and has helped many groups like high school dropouts and blacks move out of poverty. However, given the Fed's recent insistance on deflationary monetary policy and the eroding strength of unions, public education and the welfare state, a broadly equal pattern of family economic progress similar to that of the 50's and 60's may prove elusive. Length: 3 pages. Level: General. Online-HTML

Bernstein, Jared. "Inflation: The Phantom Menace," Viewpoints, Economic Policy Institute, published in Newsday (New York), June 29, 1999. The prospect of high inflation is unlikely since the effects of full employment are just beginning to be felt. In addition, productivity is growing fast enough to support the wage gains and Fed adjustments are instantly absorbed by the financial markets, making conservative pre-emptive measures unnecessary. Length: 2 pages. Level: General. Online-HTML

Boskin, Michael J. "Inflation and Its Discontents," Essays in Public Policy, The Hoover Institution, November 1997. Thanks to the Federal Reserve Boards disinflationary policies of the 80's and 90's, the United States is enjoying a 20 year economic boom. Economists' thinking has evolved as a result, placing low inflation alongside low tax rates and minimum regulation as requirements for sustained long-run growth. Length: 9 pages. Level: General. Online-HTML

Brockway, George. "The Fed's COLA and Its Disastrous Effects" Fiancial Markets Center Article, January 12, 1999. Objects strenuously to even the idea of a "real interest rate" and also of the "natural rate of unemployment," and blames the Fed for keeping interest rates and unemployment both unnecessarily high, in the mistaken notion that it must incorporate a cost-of-living-adjustment (COLA) into its policies. Length: 5 pages Level: intermediate Online-HTML

Dornbusch, Rudi. "Containing High Inflation", paper, Summer 1996 Describes why inflation is a problem and how to avoid extreme inflation. Length: 5 pages Level: general Online-PDF

Glassman, James K. "A Secret Weapon Against Inflation", Washington Post, September 20, 1998. Even though inflation is currently tamed, it will pick up again. The author recommends investing in inflation-protected bonds to protect yourself from future inflation. Length: 2 pages Level: general Online-HTML

Lerman Robert I. "Wage Inflation? Not to Worry," Commentary, The Urban Institute, October 26, 1998. Undue concerns about inflationary pressures from the labor market are largely unwarranted. Wages are being held in check because the number of qualified workers is rising fast enough to meet demand. The recent Fed cut in interest rates was appropriate to keep the economic expansion going. Length: 3 pages. Level: General. Online-HTML

Wessel, David, "With Inflation Tamed, America Confronts an Unsettling Stability," Wall Street Journal, February 22, 1999, page A1. This major front-page piece in the Wall Street Journal provides superb discussion of the problems people face when inflation is low, including the perception that small increases in wages and benefits, although larger than inflation, are somehow making them worse off. Length: 7 pages Level: general
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Krugman, Paul, "Why Aren't We All Keynesians Yet?" Fortune August 3, 1998. Points out how important Keynes was, and speculates on why he is not as well known to the general public as, say, Marx or Freud. Length: 2 pages Level: general Online-HTML

Bolch, Ben W. "Is Macroeconomics Believable?" The Independent Review Vol. 2 No. 4, The Independent Institute, Spring 1998. The confusion over the importance of macroeconomic policies is a result of Keynesian notions that through careful tinkering, the economy can be somehow perfected. This is fundamentally wrong, given that such efforts often produce more harm than good. Adherence to classical economics would be a preferred method of maximizing growth and would emphasize a macroeconomic policy framework. Length: 15 pages. Level: Intermediate. Online-HTML

Galbraith, James K. "Dangerous Metaphor: The Fiction of the Labor Market," Public Policy Brief No. 36 (Summary and Highlights only), The Jerome Levy Economics Institute, 1997. Wages are determined not by supply and demand forces but by a complex set of status and pay relationships involving individual qualifications, job characteristics, and industry patterns. This makes questions of income distribution and wage structure more important and makes full employment an essential policy goal. Length: 7 pages. Level: Intermediate. Online-HTML

Pigeon, Marc-Andre and L. Randall Wray. "Did the Clinton Rising Tide Raise All Boats?" Public Policy Brief No. 45 (Summary and Highlights only), 1998. The Clinton administration's job creation policy has been less effective at providing non-participating members of the labor force with jobs. New, active labor market policies should be implemented to target this underused pool of human resources. Length: 7 pages. Level: Intermediate. Online-HTML

Bluestone, Barry and Stephen Rose. "The Unmeasured Labor Force," Public Policy Brief No. 39 (Summary and Highlights only), The Jerome Levy Economics Institute, 1998. The current labor market is not as tight as statistics would indicate since more Americans are working longer hours, thus driving up the labor supply figures. This reveals that there may be more unemployed than statistics indicate. Length: 7 pages. Level: General. Online-HTML

Kusnet, David. "Did Lack of Respect Lead to a Growing Labor Shortage?" Viewpoints, Economic Policy Institute, published in the Los Angeles Times, May 2, 1999. The shortage of skilled factory and construction workers can be attributed to corporate efforts to break up unions and depress wages. Meanwhile, the high-technology sector claims to have a shortage of workers. They are lobbying to fill this gap by importing foreign workers which will depress domestic high-tech wages. Length: 3 pages. Level: General. Online-HTML

Kregel, Jan A. "Krugman on the Liquidity Trap: Why Inflation Won't Bring Recovery in Japan," Working Paper No. 298, The Jerome Levy Economics Institute, March 2000. Paul Krugman has argued that Japan is in a liquidity trap and that it can recover only if the central bank there follows a policy of "credible inflation." This paper argues that Krugman's proposal is based on a different interpretation of the liquidity trap from that proposed by Keynes, and as a result his policy recommendations can result in neither the elimination of the trap nor in Japan's economic recovery. Length: 11 pages. Level: Advanced. Online-HTML

Bernstein, Jared. "The Living Wage Movement: Pointing the Way Toward the High Road, "Viewpoints, Economic Policy Institute, published in the Spring 1999 Community Action Digest. Empirical research on the living wage in America's urban centers shows that living wages help to redistribute economic resources to low-wage workers, counteract the "race to the bottom" to provide cheaper public services, and provide opportunities for low-income families to take charge of their economic fates. Length: 6 pages. Level: General. Online-HTML

Krugman, Paul. "Size Does Matter," Slate, July 9, 1998. Ignoring macroeconomics is misleading since it de-emphasizes larger scale trends such as recessions and monetary policy and misleads people into thinking that answers to macro- problems can be found in micro- level policies. Length: 6 pages. Level: General. Online-HTML

Abowd, John et al. "Minimum Wage Reduces Jobs for Low-Wage Workers in France and U.S." Digest, National Bureau of Economic Research, April 1998, summary of a paper by John Abowd, Francis Kramarz, Thomas Lemieux and David Margolis. Evidence shows that those employees earning just above minimum wage suffered a decline in employment when the wage was raised. And those workers earning less than minimum wage saw their chances of finding a job increase after an inflation-induced drop in minimum wages. Length: 1 page. Level: General. Online-HTML

Bernstein, Jared. "Minimum Wages and Poverty," Viewpoints, Economic Policy Institute, Testimony before the House Education and the Workforce Committee, April 27, 1999. Raising the national minimum wage would increase earnings of low-income workers without reducing job opportunities. It will lift more families out of poverty or near-poverty while decreasing reliance on unearned income sources. Length: 7 pages. Level: General. Online-HTML

Bernstein, Jared and John Schmitt, "Making Work Pay: The Impact of the 1996-97 Minimum Wage Increase," executive summary, Economic Policy Institute, 1997. Summarizes the authors' study that finds substantial wage effects and negligible employment effects from the increase in the minimum wage. Online-HTML

Bernstein, Jared, "Another Modest Minimum Wage Increase: Clinton Proposal Would Help Close Gap between Current and Historic Value," Economic Policy Institute, Issue Brief #124, February 23, 1998. Argues that another increase in the minimum wage is needed to sustain incomes of low-wage workers. Nice example of explicitly ignoring unemployment concerns and doing analysis on other bases. Online-HTML

Fraser Institute. "The Economics of Minimum Wage Laws," Forum Editorial, March 1999. Raising the minimum wage has been proven to increase unemployment, particularly among the youngest and most unskilled workers. Length: 2 pages. Level: General. Online-HTML

Law, Marc T. "The Economics of Minimum Wage Laws," Source Paper, The Fraser Institute. Examining empirical data on the effects of the minimum wage reveal that there is no evidence that raising the wage will raise incomes of the poor. Rather, raising the minimum wage is likely to reduce employment opportunities for the unskilled and raise the income of certain low-wage workers who do not generally come from low-income families. Length: 9 pages. Level: Intermediate. Online-HTML

Levin-Waldman, Oren M. "Automatic Adjustment of the Minimum Wage," Public Policy Brief No. 42 (Summary and Highlights only), 1998. Linking minimum wage increases to inflation would make sense from a political standpoint. This removes the delay of Congressional debates, would lower costs for business owners, and maintain the value of the minimum wage over time. Length: 6 pages. Level: Intermediate. Online-HTML

Levin-Waldman, Oren M. "The Rhetorical Evolution of the Minimum Wage," Working Paper No. 280, The Jerome Levy Economics Institute, September 1999. The concept of the minimum wage has undergone significant redefinition over time. This paper traces the rhetorical evolution of the minimum wage from its initial conception as a living wage to a matter of macroeconomic policy and economic development, and, in recent years, to a debate that pits a youth disemployment effect against assisting the poor. Length: 16 pages. Level: Intermediate. Online-HTML

MaCurdy, Thomas. "Why Are Minimum Wages So Popular?" Weekly Essays, The Hoover Institution, November 29, 1999. Raising the minimum wage is an ineffective poverty alleviation measure for two reasons: only about one in four low wage workers live in families in the bottom 20 percent of the income distribution, and costs of the raise are disproportionately passed on to low income families in the form of rising commodity prices. Length: 2 pages. Level: General. Online-HTML

Michl, Thomas R. "Low-Wage Workers Deserve Pay Raise," Viewpoints, Economic Policy Institute, published in the Albany Times Union, May 21, 1999. As evidenced in New York state, raising the minimum wage will not result in a loss of jobs but will decrease turnover and improve productivity. Length: 3 pages. Level: General. Online-HTML

Neumark, David and William Wascher. "Minimum Wages Redistribute Income Among Low Income Families," Digest, National Bureau of Economic Research, January 1998, summary of a paper. Raising the minimum wage does very little to move families out of poverty, instead leading to a loss of jobs or disemployment. This effectively represents an income transfer between poor and low-wage families, not from rich to poor. Length: 1 page. Level: General. Online-HTML

Hassett, Kevin A. "Hey Mr. Greenspan: Wealth Creation Isn't a Problem," On the Issues, American Enterprise Institute, July 2000. The Federal Reserve should not raise interest rates to combat the so-called "wealth effect," which has not been proven to be driving up demand enough to cause inflationary pressures. Length: 3 pages. Level: General. Online-HTML

Krugman, Paul. "No Pain, No Gain," What's New, January 1999. Many countries cling stubbornly to classic, deflationary fundamentals even when confronted by a recession. It is becoming increasingly clear, however, that the solution in such cases may involve increasing the money supply and risking low levels of inflation. Length: 5 pages. Level: General. Online-HTML

Krugman, Paul. "The World's Smallest Macroeconomic Model," What's New, January 1999. The basic model of macroeconomic theory would describe the shortfall in demand at full employment which necessitates a monetary response. Length: 2 pages. Level: Intermediate. Online-HTML

Lindsey, Lawrence B. "Higher Rates are Needed to Cool America's Boom," Articles, American Enterprise Institute, published in the Sunday Times (London), August 29, 1999. Three guide posts of America's economy - the labor market, the current account and the yield curve - all show signs of overheating. The Federal Reserve may need to raise interest rates further if it wants to reduce these warning signs.Length: 2 pages.Level: General.Online-HTML

Thorbecke, Willem. "A Dual Mandate for the Federal Reserve," Public Policy Brief No. 60, The Jerome Levy Economics Institute, 2000. The costs of unemployment are high, but the costs of even moderate inflation are estimated to be low. If the Fed pursues price stability exclusively, the price level is not free to increase in the event of an adverse supply shock to prevent large increases in unemployment. A dual mandate allows the Fed to focus on one goal or the other as conditions demand and to balance policy effects. Length: 29 pages. Level: Intermediate. Online-HTML

Wray, L. Randall. "Why Does The Fed Want Slower Growth?" Policy Notes, The Jerome Levy Economics Institute, 2000/7. The Fed has raised interest rates six times in the past year to slow the economy in the belief that unemployment is too low. There is scant evidence, however, that low unemployment leads to inflation, that the economy is in danger of overheating, or that higher interest rates will reduce inflation. Instead, the Fed is merely hastening a downturn that will impose huge costs on society's most disadvantaged. Length: 8 pages. Level: Intermediate. Online-HTML

Davidson, Paul and James K. Galbraith, "The Dangers of Debt Reduction," Wall Street Journal, Mar 3, 1999. Argues that drastically reducing the national debt will be harmful in a number of ways, including the negative macro impact of doing so, and the loss of a safe secure asset for people to invest in. Length: 3 pages Level: general Online-HTML (Proquest, U of M only)

Glassman, Games K., "The Joy of Debt," AEI On the Issues, May, 2001. Argues that the U.S. economy would be in big trouble if the government were to pay off its debt completely, since the existence of government debt provides a necessary financial tool for government policy and a reliable safe asset for the private sector. In addition, an accumulating surplus would be invested in government ownership of private sector assets, and would simultaneously tempt government into increasing spending. Length: 4 pages Level: general Online-HTML

Leone, Richard C. "Rid of All of It? Burn the Credit Cards! Reprogram the Advertisers! Pay As You Go-The New National Creed." Century Foundation editorial. Editorial on the national debt, arguing that if debt is so bad for government, perhaps we should eliminate for everyone else too. Length: 2 pages Level: general Online-HTML

Makin, John H. "The Treasury's Debt Buy Back Proposal," American Enterprise Institute - Testimony, September 29, 1999. Says that the Treasury debt management program should be aimed at minimizing borrowing costs, rather than eliminating the entire debt. But, by issuing short-term debt to buy back long-term debt, the Treasury is betting on future market conditions that are not predicted. Length: 3 pages. Level: General. Online-HTML

Baumol, William J. and Edward N. Wolff, "Side Effects of Progress," Highlights of Public Policy Brief No. 41A, Jerome Levy Economics Institute, July 1998. Argues that technical progress is one of the things that increases the natural rate of unemployment. Online-HTML

Bluestone, Barry and Stephen Rose, "The Unmeasured Labor Force," Highlights of Public Policy Brief No. 39A, Jerome Levy Economics Institute, May 1998. Argues that recent changes in the labor market have reduced the pressures for increased wages at given rates of unemployiment and have also caused the unemployment rate, as currently measured, to be understated. Length: 5 pages Level: general Online-HTML

Dornbusch, Rudi. "New Economy - No Requiem Yet," Editorials, June 2000. Economic growth is increasingly driven by greater global competition and investment, technology advances, and new economic priorities for governments, households and businesses. This will continue to boost global production and create new opportunities for businesses and job-seekers. Length: 4 pages. Level: General. Online-HTML

Galbraith, James K. "Is the New Economy Rewriting the Rules?" Policy Notes, The Jerome Levy Economics Institute 2000/2, remarks at the White House Conference on the New Economy, April 5, 2000. The high growth and low unemployment of the new economy are significant accomplishments which provide reasons for an optimistic outlook on the future. The Fed policy of pursuing deflation by raising interest rates should be replaced by a more concerted effort to regulate margin lending and prevent a speculative stock market bubble. Length: 2 pages. Level: General. Online-HTML

"Poverty Rates Fall, but Remain High for a Period With Such Low Unemployment", Center on Budget and Policy Priorities article, October 8, 1998. Summarizes latest Census Bureau poverty findings. Length: 9 pages Level: general Online-HTML

Krugman, Paul. "Viagra and the Wealth of Nations," What's New, August 1998. The annual adjustments for increases in real GDP are arguably based more on what makes people happy with life than an accurate representation of growth in material wealth. For example, the median family in 1947 had the same purchasing power as the 20th percentile family in 1996 - slightly above the poverty line. Yet the vast majority of people in 1947 did not consider themselves poor. Length: 4 pages.Level: General.Online-HTML

Michael, Robert T. "Who Is Poor?" Op-Ed Service, National Academies of Science, May 26, 1995. The current definition of poverty does not take into account income after taxes, necessary child-care and health related expenses, and benefits that would otherwise require cash outlays such as food stamps and public housing. Reforming the poverty standard to account for these factors would do a better job of indicating the extent and depth of poverty in the U.S. Length: 2 pages. Level: General. Online-HTML

Sarlo, Chris. "How Important is the Poverty Issue?" Forum, The Fraser Institute, July 2000. Research conducted by the author shows that real poverty declined in Canada from the end of World War II until the early 1970's. Since then, poverty rates have not declined further, coinciding with an increased period of government intervention. Poverty does not hold up to socialist claims as a failure of the free-market system. Length: 2 pages. Level: General. Online-HTML

Appelbaum, Eileen. "Maintaining Profits and Productivity in the New Economy," Viewpoints, Economic Policy Institute, August 29, 1999. The government took a step in the right direction with the creation of the Manufacturing Task Force but more training and investment must be initiated to overcome the challanges facing American manufacturing firms. Length: 3 pages. Level: General. Online-HTML

Bosworth, Barry P. & Jack E. Triplett. "Numbers Matter," Policy Brief #63, The Brookings Institute, July 2000. Lack of adequate statistical data has prevented economists and policy-makers from being able to fully ascertain the extent of productivity growth and effect on areas such as medical care. Length: 6 pages. Level: Intermediate. Online-HTML

Law, Marc T. "Productivity and Economic Performance: An Overview of the Issues," Source Paper, The Fraser Institute. Canada's economy has suffered from declining productivity in the manufacturing sector. In order to promote higher productivity growth in manufacturing and the economy as a whole, the government must implement tax reform and greater deregulation. Length: 37 pages. Level: Advanced. Online-HTML

Mishel, Lawrence. "The 'New Economy',"Viewpoints, Economic Policy Institute, published in the Las Vegas Review-Journal, February 14, 1999. Lack of productivity and wage growth provides evidence that the Information Technology revolution may not be leading to long-term improvements in the capacity of the U.S. economy to generate goods and services. Length: 2 pages. Level: General. Online-HTML

Johnson, Clifford M. "Frequently-Asked Questions About Public Job Creation", Center on Budget and Policy Priorities article, December 2, 1998. Encourages and answers questions about public job creation. Length: 6 pages Level: general Online-HTML

Papadimitriou, Dimitri B. "Full Employment Has Not Been Achieved," Public Policy Brief No. 53, The Jerome Levy Economics Institute, 1999. Reducing workweek and employment subsidies is not guaranteed to raise employment levels. Instead, the solution to reaching full employment is to institute a public service employment program that offers jobs at a fixed wage to all who are willing and able to work. Length: 30 pages. Level: Intermediate. Online-HTML

Pigeon, Marc-Andre and L. Randall Wray. "Down and Out in the United States," Public Policy Brief No. 54, The Jerome Levy Economics Institute, 1999. Current labor market policies, and especially welfare reform measures, have proved ineffective for the "hard-core" jobless because the policies are predicated on the mistaken notion that the private labor market is dynamic and flexible enough to accommodate anyone who wants to work. A public employment program would complement the operation of the private market, providing those who are able and willing with income, a sense of worth, the opportunity to make a social and economic contribution, and preparation for entry into the labor force. Length: 45 pages. Level: Intermediate. Online-HTML

Aschauer, David Alan. "How Should the Surpluses Be Spent?" Policy Notes, The Jerome Levy Economics Institute, 1998/2. A primary determinant of the rate of economic growth is the level of national investment. Of the various possibilities for using the surplus, the largest positive impact on national investment would come from an increase in public investment. Such investment could be expected, with some degree of confidence, to induce a near dollar-for-dollar increase in national investment without any increase in the level of foreign indebtedness. Length: 7 pages. Level: Intermediate. Online-HTML

Faux, Jeff. "Time to Take Recession Risks Seriously", Economic Policy Institute Viewpoints, originally appeared in Newsday, November 4, 1998. To avoid a recession, the U.S. government should unbalance the federal budget. The economy needs the public sector to provide net new spending to compensate for the downturn in spending in the private sector. Length: 2 pages Level: general Online-HTML

Lindsey, Lawrence B. "The Best Insurance Against Global Recession," On the Issues, American Enterprise Institute, January 1999. Argues in favor of a tax cut, on the grounds that, should our economy lose momentum and import less, chances of a global recession would increase dramatically. Discusses the need for either a monetary or fiscal economic insurance policy. Length: 3 pages Level: intermediate Online-HTML

Dinneen, Gerald. "Even in Prosperity, Long-Term Investments Are Key," Op-Ed Service, National Academies of Science, April 23, 1999. Recent trends in the development of new technologies have moved away from long-term, fundamental research in favor of pure product development. In addition, the education system of the United States must do a better job of training students for the occupational needs of the future in such crucial areas as biotechnology. Length: 3 pages. Level: General. Online-HTML

Merrill, Stephen. "Keeping America's Economy on Track," Op-Ed Service, National Academies of Science, July 9, 1999. Support and funding for research in the physical sciences and engineering has declined since the early 1990's. It is important to reverse this trend through more targeted government assistance to long-term research projects as opposed to short-term advances currently being sought at most major industry research centers. Length: 3 pages. Level: General. Online-HTML

Gale, William G. "Don't Buy the Sales Tax" Brookings Institution, Policy Brief #31, March 1998. Explains a proposed national retail sales tax that would replace personal and corporate income taxes and the estate tax and reasons why the tax is not a good idea. Length: 8 pages Level: intermediate Online-HTML

Metcalf, Gilbert E. "The National Sales Tax: Who Bears the Burden?" Cato Policy Analysis No. 289, December 8, 1997. Discusses a study that examines the potential results of a shift from the current income tax to a national sales tax. The study claims that the progressivity of the tax depends on households being ranked by annual or lifetime income. It also claims that it is possible to construct a sales tax that is not necessarily regressive and that protects the poor from paying any tax. Length: 19 pages Level: intermediate Online-HTML

Gale, William G. "A Crisis in Saving?" Brookings Institution Opinion Piece, published in Barron's, August 16, 1999. Discusses the implications of today's very low saving rates. They are both negative - an impending lack of retirement finds, and positive - increased consumption lending itself to a growing economy, Length: 3 pages. Level: General. Online-HTML

Godley, Wynne and Bill Martin. "How Negative Can U.S. Saving Get?" Policy Notes, The Jerome Levy Economics Institute, 1999/1. The high rate of growth in U.S. spending is worrying since it has been financed by increased net borrowing. If the stock market bubble were to burst, there would be limited scope to offset the crisis by monetary means. The most promising outcome can be achieved by expansionary fiscal policies undertaken in coordination with other high-income nations. Length: 4 pages. Level: Intermediate. Online-HTML

Lindsey, Lawrence B. "Even Prosperity Requires a Little Prudence," Articles, American Enterprise Institute, published in the Financial Times (London), July 11, 2000. Increased national savings rate and tax reforms are needed if economic growth is to continue. Length: 2 pages. Level: General. Online-HTML

Maggs, John. "Thrift is Out, Spendthrifts Are In," Articles, American Enterprise Institute, published in The National Journal, May 15, 1999. High U.S. consumer spending in the 1990's has been offset by the increase in government saving as a result of the balancing of the budget. However, this lack of personal saving has resulted in less private domestic capital available for business investment. Length: 2 pages. Level: General.Online-HTML

Mitchell, Daniel J. "How Taxes Reduce Savings," Backgrounder No. 1309, The Heritage Foundation, July 22, 1999. The Federal income tax system imposes too many layers of taxation on incomes. Reforms should include creating individual retirement accounts, eliminating withdrawal restrictions on IRA's, allowing workers to shift payroll taxes into personal retirement accounts, and eliminating tax penalties on dividends, estates and capital gains. Length: 11 pages. Level: Intermediate. Online-HTML

Spence, Michael A. "An Answer to America's Saving Problem," Op-Ed Service, National Academies of Science, July 31, 1994. The American economy is faced with declining levels of savings and investment which could threaten future prosperity. The best solution is to encourage Americans to save more through tax reforms, reducing the federal budget deficit and more public attention as to why Americans save so little and what policies would be most effective to remedy the situation. Length: 3 pages. Level: General. Online-HTML

Aaron, Henry. "A Bad Plan for Social Security," Brookings Institution Opinion Piece, published in The Washington Post, December 9, 1999. Discusses the Moynihan-Kerrey plan for "closing Social Securities projected long term deficit" and why the plan is not in the best interests of the American people. Length: 1 page. Level: General. Online-HTML

Aaron, Henry. "Great Pretenders," Brookings Institution Opinion Piece, published in The Washington Post, November 8, 1999. Says that Social Security is really not an important economic issue and begins to explore the political implications of the Social Security debate. Length: 3 pages. Level: General. Online-HTML

Baker, Dean. "A Deal Privitization Can't Beat," Viewpoints, Economic Policy Institute, published in The Washington Post, December 23, 1998. Advocates of privitizing social security understate the benefits of the program in its current form and ignore the possibility that the stock market might not continue to expand as much in future years. Length: 2 pages.Level: General. Online-HTML

Baker, Dean, "Leading Plans to 'Fix' Social Security Cut Retirement Benefits 20-40% for Typical Worker" Press Release, Economic Policy Institute, November 24, 1998. Discusses a new plan for reforming Social Security that preserves the current schedule of benefits for the next 75 years. Length: 3 pages Level: general Online-HTML

Becker, Gary S. "Becker to Uncle Sam: Keep Your Hands off Wall Street," Digest 1999 No. 3, The Hoover Institution, reprinted from BusinessWeek, February 8, 1999. Privatizing social security involves more than simply allowing the government to invest in equity markets. Instead, personal retirement accounts should be created which allow the owners to invest in their preferred mix of equities and bonds without government influence. Length: 4 pages. Level: General. Online-HTML

Bowman, Karlyn. "Who's Afraid of Privatizing Social Security?" American Enterprise Institute - On the Issues, October 1998. This article says that people are losing confidence in social security and are therefore more open to other alternatives, including partial privatization. Length: 2 pages. Level: General. Online-HTML

Burbank, John and Edith Rasell. "Debunking the Social Security Myth," Viewpoints, Economic Policy Institute, published in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, August 15, 1999. Social Security is healthy and should not be turned into a risky retirement option by privatizing accounts. Instead, future funds could be increased by scrapping the payroll tax cap. Length: 3 pages. Level: General. Online-HTML

Burtless, Gary. "Risk and Returns on Stock Market Investments Held in Individual Retirement Accounts," Congressional Testimony, The Brookings Institution, testimony for the Task Force on Social Security Reform Budget Committee, U.S. House of Representativ es, May 11, 1999. Social Security accounts should not be privatized since this would expose workers with below-average lifetime wages to greater financial risk in the future. Length: 9 pages.Level: Intermediate.Online-HTML

Butler, Stuart. "At 65, Social Security Should Retire," Views, The Heritage Foundation, distributed by Knight-Ridder/Tribune News Wire, August 3, 2000. Social Security reform should consider a privatized system of accounts to provide a better return for future generations and adequate support for the Baby Boom generation. Length: 3 pages. Level: General. Online-HTML

Carter, James and Rudolph G. Penner. "For Social Security, Solvency is Irrelevant," Commentary, The Urban Institute, April 20, 1999. By focusing the nation's attention on solvency while ignoring the severe fiscal imbalances underlying both Social Security and Medicare, the president does the nation a great disservice. As is often the case in economics, the answer to this problem involves boosting productivity and economic growth. Only then will Social Security continue to be viable, since it depends on worker contributions, not government surpluses, to function. Length: 3 pages. Level: General. Online-HTML

Cogan, John F. "The Congressional Response to Social Security Surpluses, 1935-1994," Essays in Public Policy, The Hoover Institution, August 1998. The real problem with Social Security lies not with the system as much as it does with the spending habits of Congressional members. The creation of a seperate reserve fund within the federal budget would only encourage lawmakers to appropriate funds for spending outlays. Length: 25 pages. Level: Intermediate. Online-HTML

Davis, Gareth G. "Faster Economic Growth Will Not Solve The Social Security Crisis," Center for Data Analysis Report No. 00-01, The Heritage Foundation, February 2, 2000. Future economic growth will not reduce the projected social security budget deficit. Indeed, even given the wildly optimistic growth rates projected by some supporters of the current system, the deficit will still increase, since benefits will grow faster than revenues. Length: 11 pages. Level: Intermediate. Online-HTML

Feldstein, Martin and Jeffrey Liebman. "An Investment-Based Social Security System Can Benefit Low-Income Groups," Digest, National Bureau of Economic Research, July 2000, summary of a paper. Under a mixed system of Social Security, a percentage of all payroll taxes would be invested in the stock and bond markets. On average, retirees would experience a 39 percent increase in their annual benefits. Even in a market downturn and allowing for only a 3.5 percent real rate of return, retirees are still better off under a mixed system than under the current pay-as-you-go format. Length: 1 page. Level: General. Online-HTML

Friedman, Milton. "Social Security Socialism," Digest 1999 No. 2, The Hoover Institution, published in the Wall Street Journal, January 26, 1999. The idea of investing Social Security funds in private equities is flawed since it would dramatically increase the governments interest in domestic corporations. Length: 3 pages. Level: General. Online-HTML

Friedman, Milton. "Speaking the Truth about Social Security Reform," Briefing Paper #46, The Cato Institute, published in The New York Times, January 11, 1999. Social Security should be privatized but such private accounts should not be mandatory. Length: 3 pages. Level: General. Online-HTML

Genetski, Robert. "Administration Costs and the Relative Efficiency of Public and Private Social Security Systems", Cato Project on Social Security Privatization, No. 15, March 9, 1999. Makes a case for individual Social Security accounts. Although the cost of private accounts is slightly higher than that of government-run Social Security, workers in a privatized system would receive better and more secure benefits. Length: 12 pages Level: general Online-PDF

Gokhale, Jagadeesh and Laurence Kotlikoff. "Social Security Reform Can Make Things Worse," Digest, National Bureau of Economic Research, February 2000, summary of a paper. A straight cut in Social Security benefits distributes the burden more equally across generations than a straight tax increase. One clear result of this research is that the youngest postwar generations have the most to worry about. Tax increases will affect them over their entire working lifetime. Both the benchmark tax increase and the benefit cut are harder on the lifetime poor than the lifetime rich. Length: 1 page. Level: General. Online-HTML

Greenstein, Robert. "The Archer-Shaw Social Security Proposal", Center on Budget and Policy Priorities Report, May 5, 1999. Describes and discusses shortcomings of this plan. Length: 8 pages Level: general Online-HTML

Greenstein, Robert, "Testimony of Robert Greenstein, Executive Director, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities before the Senate Finance Committee, February 9, 1999." Discusses general revenue contributions as a way to help fund Social Security. Length: 7 pages Level: intermediate Online-HTML

Greenstein, Robert, Wendell Primus, and Kilolo Kijakazi. "The Feldstein Social Security Plan", Center On Budget and Policy Priorities Report, December 15, 1999. Argues that the Feldstein Plan, which claims that retirees would receive greater retirement income with no tax increases, would not work. Length: 17 pages Level: general Online-HTML

Hicks, Christy. "Henry J. Aaron and Robert D. Reischauer Analyze the Issues and Grade the Reform Proposals in a New Book from the Century Foundation", Century Foundation press release, December 1, 1998. Short description of the book Countdown to Reform: The Great Social Security Debate. Length: 2 pages Level: general Online-HTML

John, David C. "Five Rules for Real Social Security Reform", The Heritage Foundation Executive Memorandum, No. 578, March 12, 1999. Discusses requirements for social security reform, such as not depending on future budget surpluses, establishing personal retirement accounts, and guaranteeing seniors an adequate minimum income. Length: 10 pages Level: general Online-HTML

John, David C. "President Clinton's Flawed Universal Savings Account Program", Heritage Foundation Executive Memorandum, No. 593, April 29, 1999. Claims that privatized Social Security accounts would not help Social Security's financial problems, would initiate a new tax-supported entitlement, and could lead to the federal government investing in the stock market. Length: 2 pages Level: general Online-PDF

Kijakazi, Kilolo, Wendell Primus, and Robert Greenstein. "Understanding the Financial Status of the Social Security System in Light of the 1999 Trustees' Report", Center on Budget and Policy Priorities Report, March 30, 1999. Discusses annual report of Social Security's financial and actuarial status. Affirms that Social Security does not face a near-term crisis, but faces an imbalance in the long-term. Length: 4 pages Level: general Online-HTML

Krugman, Paul. "Notes on Social Security," What's New, August 2000. Privatization of Social Security will incur large transition costs used to pay off debts owed to current benefit recipients. Economically, this makes it infeasible for political officials to promise privatization of the system AND tax cuts. Length: 2 pages. Level: General. Online-HTML

Larin, Kathy and Robert Greenstein. "Social Security Plans That Reduce Social Security Retirement Benefits Substantially Are Likely to Cut Disability and Survivors Benefits As Well" Center on Budget and Policy Priorities Report, December 15, 1999. Discusses the problems of disability and survivor benefits being reduced when Social Security retirement benefits are potentially reduced by several proposed Social Security reform plans. Length: 19 pages Level: general Online-HTML

Leone, Richard C. "Clinton's Social Security Fix: A Step Forward", Century Foundation editorial, originally appeared in the Daily News on January 21, 1999. Praises Clinton's plan to save Social Security. Length: 2 pages Level: general Online-HTML

Lindsey, Lawrence B. "Gore's Risky Social Security Scheme," Articles, American Enterprise Institute, originally appeared in the Wall Street Journal, July 13, 2000. Al Gore's plan for a new tax cut to save Social Security does not go far enough to benefit the working classes Gore claims to support. In fact, Gore's plan does nothing to change the existing system and, when his promise to increase benefits is taken into account, his plan runs the risk of drastically increasing the program's budget deficit in the future. Length: 2 pages. Level: General. Online-HTML

Lips, Carrie. "State and Local Retirement Programs: Lessons in Alternatives to Social Security", Cato Project on Social Security Privatization, No. 16, March 17, 1999. Describes certain state and local non-FICA retirement plans and claims the federal government should be reformed to incorporate the best aspects of these programs, moving toward a system of personal retirement accounts. Length: 18 pages Level: general Online-PDF

Mayer, Martin. "It's Pay-As-You-Go; Get Used to It," Brookings Institution Opinion Piece, published in the Los Angeles Times, October 26, 1999. Says that eventually increasing numbers of Social Security beneficiaries will have to be supported by a shrinking work force, forcing the government to redeem bonds to pay for Social Security, and discusses the economic implications of such action. Length: 2 pages. Level: General. Online-HTML

Meredith, John. "Social Security is Unfair to Black Americans", National Center for Public Policy Research New Visions Commentary Paper, March 1999. Claims that Social Security is unfair to single, low-income, black Americans and advocates privatization of Social Security. Length: 2 pages Level: general Online-HTML

Mitchell, Daniel J. Ph.D. "Why Critics Of Social Security Personal Retirement Accounts Are Wrong," Backgrounder No. 1344, The Heritage Foundation, February 4, 2000. Bi-partisan consensus for Social Security reform has increased dramatically in the last five years. The best way to do this is by privatizing the system, yet opponents of this idea vigorously deny that this will actually lead to an improved system. They would be advised to consider that rates of return for workers are very low relative to payroll taxes, and that the number of baby boomers who will be eligible for retirement soon will impose a much larger burden on tommorrow's workers. Length: 18 pages. Level: Intermediate. Online-HTML

Olsen, Darcy Ann. "Social Security Reform Proposals: USAs, Clawbacks, and Other Add-Ons," Briefing Paper #47, The Cato Institute, June 11, 1999. Creating additional add-on programs for social security would ignore the fundamental deficit problems faced by the program. Instead, workers should be allowed to redirect their current payroll taxes into private accounts. Length: 12 pages. Level: Intermediate. Online-HTML

O'Rourke, P.J. "The Great Ponzi-Scheme Rescue Act of 1999: The Last Social Security Story You'll Ever Have to Read", Rolling Stone, April 15, 1999. Claims that the government is wrongfully spending Social Security funds on things other than Social Security and that we should privatize the whole Social Security system. Length: 5 pages Level: general Online-HTML

Orszag, Peter. "Individual Accounts and Social Security: Does Social Security Really Provide a Lower Rate of Return?", Center on Budget and Policy Priorities Report, March 11, 1999. Points out flaws in the argument claiming that the rate of return on privatized Social Security accounts is higher than the return given by the current government system. Length: 47 page Level: general Online-PDF

Papadimitriou, Dimitri B. and L. Randall Wray. "Does Social Security Need Saving?" Public Policy Brief No. 55, The Jerome Levy Economics Institute, 1999. Most proposals to "save" the social security system--locking away budget surpluses, investing the Trust Funds in the stock market, privatization, reduction of benefits--do not address the real problem of caring for future retirees. This would be more adequately ensured if the size of the economic pie was increased and redistributed through appropriate fiscal policy. Length: 47 pages. Level: Intermediate. Online-HTML

Rasell, M. Edith. "Funding the Social Security Program", Economic Policy Institute Viewpoints, testimony given before the Special Committee on Aging at a U.S. Senate hearing on "Social Security Reform: Is More Money the Answer?", March 1, 1999. To strengthen Social Security, we should raise the cap on earnings subject to the Social Security payroll tax, eventually raise the payroll tax rate, and raise levels of public investment. Length: 4 pages Level: general Online-HTML

Rasell, Edie. "Gore's and Bush's plans for Social Security: People vs. Power," Viewpoints, Economic Policy Institute, published in The Miami Herald, July 9, 2000. The Gore plan for social security calls for moderate increase in benefits but using the bulk of the surplus to pay down the national debt. Bush wants to privatize social security retirement accounts, a move that would jeopardize the program and the futures of many middle-class working Americans. Length: 2 pages. Level: General. Online-HTML

Rasell, Edith. "Much Ado About Nothing: The Archer-Shaw Plan Won't Fix Social Security," Viewpoints, Economic Policy Institute, published in the Columbus Dispatch, May 21, 1999. The Archer/Shaw plan to fix social security is based on falsely high estimates of future stock market gains and actually decreases benefits for most groups. Length: 2 pages. Level: General.Online-HTML

Reischauer, Robert D. "Investing Social Security Reserves in Private Securities," Congressional Testimony, The Brookings Institution, testimony before the Subcommittee on Social Security, Committee on Ways and Means, March 3, 1999. Investing social securi ty funds in private assets would increase returns and help reduce the program's deficit. Political pressures to invest in certain assets could be prevented by implementing institutional safeguards.Length: 7 pages. Level: Intermediate. Online-HTML

Shoven, John B. "Free Lunch? Not When It Comes to Social Security," Weekly Essays, The Hoover Institution, July 17, 2000. The idea of having the Federal government invest the social security trust fund in the stock market is flawed. The government currently uses the Social Security surplus for fiscal spending in exchange for long term government bonds. So the government would need to raise taxes or cut benefits if Social Security funds were reinvested elsewhere. Length: 1 page. Level: General. Online-HTML

Sowell, Thomas. "What Trust Fund?" Digest 1999 No. 4, The Hoover Institution, reprinted from Forbes, April 19, 1999. The myth of the Social Security trust fund is perpetuated in order to convince future retirees that they will recieve pensions. However, those pensions are much lower than retirees actually deserve because Congress has spent Social Security money on unrelated outlays. Length: 3 pages. Level: General. Online-HTML

Weaver, Carolyn L. "How Not to Reform Social Security," American Enterprise Institute - On The Issues, August 1998. This article states that the government proposal to invest social security funds is a bad idea for a number of reasons, including the risks associated with stock market investment and the conflicts of interest that would arise from government officials having control of big businesses. Length: 5 pages. Level: General. Online-HTML

Weaver, Carolyn L. "Investing Social Security in the Private Market," American Enterprise Institute - Testimony, March 3, 1999. This article discusses the differences between personal accounts and centralized investment, and why private investment of social security is favorable. Length: 5 pages. Level: General. Online-HTML

Weaver, Carolyn L. "Social Security's Best Bet," American Enterprise Institute - On The Issues, October 1998. This article discusses the benefits of privatizing social security so that people have the ability to invest all or part of their retirement funds, that retirement finds would be invested for the long run, capitalizing on long term growth. Length: 3 pages. Level: General. Online-HTML

Wilson, D. Mark. "Who Pays the Payroll Tax?" Center for Data Analysis Report No 00-03, The Heritage Foundation, March 3, 2000. By 2014, outlays from the Old-Age and Survivors and Disability Insurance (OASDI) program will exceed income. This study examines many of the challanges facing would-be reformers of Social Security, including the fact that many of the lowest and most underprivilaged groups pay the highest proportions of tax. Thus, efforts to reform the system in its present structure wouldn't work, since traditional fixes such as higher taxes and lower benefits would only hurt those participants who could least afford to pay. Length: 38 pages. Level: Intermediate. Online-HTML

Baker, Dean. "Bull Market Keynesianism" The American Prospect No. 42, January-February 1999. Argues that anti-Keynesian assumptions made by economic policy makers about the 1990s business cycle were wrong. Length: 5 pages Level: intermediate Online-HTML

Chimerine, Lawrence. "Higher Rates May Turn Soft Landing Into Crash Landing," U.S. Economy Op-Ed, Economic Strategy Institute, published in Bridge News, March 20, 2000. The Fed is wrong to worry about inflation because interest rate increases in the past are finally starting to slow growth, the spike in oil prices is likely to be a one-time deal, tight competition prevents companies from raising prices and the wealth effect is exaggerated. Length: 2 pages. Level: General. Online-HTML

Chimerine, Lawrence. "The Inflation Myth," U.S. Economy Op-Ed, Economic Strategy Institute, July 2, 1999. Many of those who fear inflation should revise their opinion in light of the fact that the U.S. economy shows no real signs of overheating, the spike in oil prices has not made up for the decline suffered last year, wage increases have been limited and productivity is soaring. Length: 2 pages. Level: General. Online-HTML

Faux, Jeff. "The Next Recession," Viewpoints, Economic Policy Institute, published in The American Prospect, August 14, 2000. The American economy could suffer a slowdown soon given the lack of consumer saving, high deficit and the recovery of the emerging markets. To prevent this from happening, the government should start running a deficit, expand social safety services, encourage a devaluation of the dollar and encourage future growth in Europe to take some pressure off the U.S. economy. Length: 3 pages. Level: General. Online-HTML

Meltzer, Allan, "Time for Japan to Print Money," On the Issues, American Enterprise Institute, August 1998. Argues that the U.S. is wrong to ask Japan to cut taxes to stimulate its economy; monetary expansion would be better. Level: intermediate Length: 2 pages Online-HTML

Prestowitz, Clyde V. Jr. "Testing Greenspan's Knack For Managing A U.S. Downturn," U.S. Economy Op-Ed, Economic Strategy Institute, published in the Bridge News, February 24, 2000. Despite the success of the U.S. economy, some signs warn of a possible slowdown. It will be a challenge for Alan Grennspan to halt or reverse the disturbing trends of a growing current account deficit and high consumer debt. Length: 2 pages. Level: General. Online-HTML

Brimelow, Peter. "Bubblenomics," Articles, American Enterprise Institute, published in Forbes, May 3, 1999. Milton Friedman comments briefly on several subjects related to the notion that the stock market is overvalued. Length: 2 pages.Level: Intermediate. Online-HTML

Glassman, James K. and Kevin A. Hassett. "Bubbloney," American Enterprise Institute - On the Issues, October 1999. This article argues that stocks today are not overvalued, and that the stock market cannot be looked at as a bubble ready to burst when prices get too high. Length: 4 pages. Level: General. Online-HTML

Glassman, James K. and Kevin A. Hassett. "Stock Prices Are Still Far Too Low," American Enterprise Institute - On the Issues, April 1999. This article says that rising stock prices are not cause for concern - risks are not going up. Prices are increasing but the risk premium is going down, and prices will continue to rise until stock returns equal bond returns. Length: 3 pages. Level: General. Online-HTML

Schmitt, John. "What Has the Dow Done for You Lately?" Viewpoints, Economic Policy Institute, published in the Florida Times Union, June 2, 1999. The high flying stock market disguises the fact that the net wealth of most Americans has fallen due to the fact that many families do not own substantial amounts of stock, real estate values have declined and consumer debt has increased. Length: 2 pages.Level: General. Online-HTML

Lav, Iris J. and Alan Berube. "When It Rains It Pours: A Look At the Adequacy of State Rainy Day Funds and Budget Reserves" Center on Budget and Policy Priorities Report, March 1999. Report examines states' fiscal preparedness for future recessions. Most states are not in strong enough financial shape to weather a future recession without cutting government programs and services or enacting substantial tax increases. Length: 53 pages Level: general Online-PDF

Mitchell, Daniel J. "Time for Lower Income Tax Rates: The Historical Case for Supply-Side Economics," Backgrounder No. 1253, The Heritage Foundation, February 19, 1999. Tax rates today are excessively high. History has shown that lower tax rates often lead to greater tax revenues since the rich have less incentive to hide wealth. In addition, pro-growth tax policies benefit all classes and invariably lead to economic prosperity. Length: 16 pages. Level: Intermediate. Online-HTML

Auerbach, Alan J. and William G. Gale. "The Case Against Tax Cuts", Brookings Institute Policy Brief, No. 46, March 1999. The U.S. government faces a large, long-term deficit, and tax cuts would make this problem worse. Length: 9 pages Level: general Online-HTML

Bartlett, Bruce, Stanley Collender and Grover Norquist. "Why the Case for Tax Cuts is Failing (And What Should Be Done About It)," Lecture No 655, The Heritage Foundation, February 8, 2000. The 1999 tax cut passed by Congress but vetoed by Clinton ignited a brief debate over the need for a tax cut. However, public support for a tax cut has since waned, prompting the need to better educate people about the value of a cut. The political struggle for cuts is crucial, and renewed emphasis must be placed on articulating specific cuts, discouraging new taxes such as internet taxation, imposing term limits on tax hikes, and gradually phasing in tax cuts over periods of years. Length: 10 pages. Level: General. Online-HTML

Gale, William G. "Federal Tax Policy in the New Millennium," Congressional Testimony, The Brookings Institution, testimony before the United States Senate Committee on the Budget, January 20, 1999. The projected budget surplus should not be used as the ba sis to fund new tax cuts since government accounting is often inaccurate and tax burdens are relatively low. Length: 17 pages. Level: Intermediate.Online-HTML

Greenstein, Robert and Iris J. Lav. "Proposed 10% Tax Rate Cut Would Provide Little Relief to Millions of Families", Center on Budget and Policy Priorities article, January 21, 1999. Provides evidence that the proposed 10% across-the-board income tax rate cut would only benefit the country's highest-income taxpayers. Length: 2 pages Level: general Online-HTML

Hassett, Kevin A. "A Tax Phantom Is Stalking You," On the Issues, American Enterprise Institute, October 2000. The American tax system is constructed such that an automatic rate hike is instituted once a taxpayer enters a higher income bracket. But this does not take into account the effects of real economic growth; a tax cut could help ensure that Americans are not unduly burdened during times of prosperity. Length: 2 pages. Level: General. Online-HTML

Kosnaski, Andrew. "The Spending while Saving Conundrum," Forum, The Fraser Institute, February 2000. Analysis of budget deficit reduction shows that federal government spending reduction actually does not improve the budget balance - rather the way to achieve budgetary stability is by lowering the tax burden. Length: 6 pages. Level: Intermediate. Online-HTML

Levy, Frank and Iris J. Lav, "The Trouble with Tax Cuts," New York Times, February 24, 1999. Argues that the 10% tax cuts being pushed by Republicans will make economic inequality worse. Level: general Length: 2 pages Online-HTML (from Proquest, available to U of M only)

Wilson, James Q. "Why Not Cut Taxes?" On the Issues, American Enterprise Institute, October 2000. The across-the-board, marginal rate tax cut proposed by George W. Bush will benefit Americans equally and free up more resources than Al Gore's targeted tax cut proposal. The Bush plan is based on the assumption that a budget surplus will make the cut possible and that no Social Security surplus will be used for tax cuts. Length: 2 pages. Level: General. Online-HTML

Mitchell, Daniel J. Ph.D. "Time To Sunset The Tax Code," Executive Memorandum No. 645, The Heritage Foundation, January 28, 2000. Allowing the current income tax system to expire would break through the deadlock over the tax reform debate and allow lawmakers to consider possible alternatives to the current system. Length: 3 pages. Level: General. Online-HTML

Greenstein, Robert. "The Constitutional Amendment to Require A Two-Thirds Supermajority to Raise Taxes", Center on Budget and Policy Priorities Report, April 12, 1999. Describes proposed amendment and its potential effects. Length: 9 pages Level: general Online-HTML

Hassett, Kevin A., Charles W. Calomiris & Lawrence B. Lindsey. "The McCain Tax Plan," On the Issues, American Enterprise Institute, March 2000. Economic policy advisors to GOP presidential candidates McCain and Bush debate the merits of McCain's tax reform proposals. Length: 3 pages. Level: general. Online-HTML

Johnson, Nicholas et al. "Most States Now Exempt Poor Families From Income Tax, But Tax Relief is Overdue in Many Others", Center on Budget and Policy Priorities Press Release, March 4, 1999. Discusses a new study of state income tax thresholds. Length: 8 pages Level: general Online-HTML

Lav, Iris J. "Information and Misinformation About Federal Tax Burdens", Center on Budget and Policy Priorities article, January 21, 1999. Refutes the claim that current tax burdens are the highest percentage of income ever paid in taxes by American families. Length: 6 pages Level: general Online-HTML

Lav, Iris J. and Alan Berube. "Marriage Penalties and Bonuses in the Income Tax", Center on Budget and Policy Priorities article, September 10, 1998. Argues against reducing federal income taxes for married couples who currently owe more taxes than they would owe if each filed as a single individual. Length: 5 pages Level: general Online-HTML

Ridenour, Amy. "Congress Considers Tax Limitation Constitutional Amendment", National Center for Public Policy, National Policy Analysis, No. 242, April 1999. Advocates a tax limitation amendment to the Constitution. Length: 4 pages Level: general Online-HTML

Sawicky, Max. "The Tax That Tolls for Thee", Economic Policy Institute Viewpoints, originally appeared in the Birmingham News, April 15, 1999. Claims that we should concentrate on tax relief for working people, rather than the rich. Length: 2 pages Level: general Online-HTML

Weinstein, Michael M. "Economic Scene; The Tax Bite Comes with Saw Teeth," Articles, American Enterprise Institute, published in The New York Times, April 15, 1999. The myriad tax credits and deductions introduced in the 1990's effectively raise the marginal tax rates on the upper classes, complicates the income tax system and reduces incentives to work and save. Length: 2 pages.Level: General.Online-HTML

Baumol, William J and Edward N. Wolff. "Side Effects of Progress," Public Policy Brief No. 41 (Summary and Highlights only), 1998. One of the effects of increasing technological progress has been to render certain job sectors and skills obsolete. The challenge for policy makers is to find ways to offset the problems created for these sectors, which suffer from rising levels and duration of unemployment. Length: 7 pages. Level: Intermediate. Online-HTML

Krugman, Paul. "Why most economists' predictions are wrong," Red Herring Magazine, June 1998. Krugman revisists a list of popular technological predictions made in 1967 and finds that society in the year 2000 has actually fallen quite short of these over-optimistic estimates. Many of the current technological innvoations, while becoming faster, are not necessarily making work any easier or more productive. Length: 4 pages. Level: General. Online-HTML

Blank, Rebecca M. "Is There a Trade-off between Unemployment and Inequality?" Public Policy Brief No 33A (Highlights and Summary Only), The Jerome Levy Economics Institute, August 1997. The U.S. and the European experiences demonstrate that there are no easy answers about how to operate a labor market that will generate plenty of jobs for younger and less-skilled workers and also offer workers the opportunity to earn enough to support a family. Good policy choices will require mixing some of the best aspects of labor market flexibility with well-run activist labor market and social protection policies. Length: 8 pages. Level: Intermediate. Online-HTML

Hirsch, Barry T. "Unionization and Economic Performance: Evidence on Productivity, Profits, Investment, and Growth," Source Paper, The Fraser Institute. The evidence from research indicates that unions increase wages but not productivity, reduce profitability, reduce investment in physical capital and R&D and slow employment growth. The U.S. should liberalize labor laws to avoid the rigidities found in the Canadian labor markets. Length: 5 pages. Level: Intermediate. Online-HTML

Moore, Stephen & Julian L. Simon. "The Greatest Century That Ever Was: 25 Miraculous Trends of the Past 100 Years," Policy Analysis #364, The Cato Institute, December 15, 1999. The American people have achieved astounding gains in many areas over the past century, leading to a far greater quality of life than Americans enjoyed 100 years ago. Length: 32 pages. Level: Intermediate. Online-HTML

Ridenour, Amy. "Americans Are Better Off Than We Think", National Center for Public Policy Research, National Policy Analysis, No. 238, April 1999. Claims that almost all Americans are getting richer and have more leisure time than ever before, and that most jobs pay good wages. Length: 1 page Level: general Online-HTML

Rivlin, Vice-Chair Alice M. Rivlin, "Dilemmas of an Economic Superpower", Financial Services Dinner of the Foreign Policy Association, New York, NY, February 24, 1999. Fed governor discusses why the U.S. economy performed well in the past, why it is doing well now, and how to deal with problems in the future. Length: 5 pages Level: general Online-HTML

Wattenberg, Ben J., "America By the Numbers," Wall Street Journal, January 3, 2001. Based on initial returns from the 2000 census, America is older, more foreign-born, wealthier, more populous, more Western and more Southern. This gives a nice picture of a few aspects of what America is like, also providing comparisons with other countries and with earlier experience. Length: 1 page. Level: General. Online-HTML

Bluestone, Barry and Teresa Ghilarducci. "Making Work Pay," Public Policy Brief No. 28 (Summary Only), The Jerome Levy Economics Institute, 1996. The growing absolute numbers of poor should be a cause for concern, and improving the wage insurance system is the way to address the problem. Length: 1 page. Level: General. Online-HTML

Stein, Herbert. "The Equality Equation: What Explains the Disparity in Male and Female Pay?", American Enterprise Institute article, originally appeared in Slate on April 22, 1999. Argues that most differences in male and female pay are not the result of gender discrimination. Length: 3 pages Level: general Online-HTML

Dornbusch, Rudi. "The Come and Go of the State", paper, Fall 1997. Argues that the end or great decrease of the welfare state will create new economic prosperity and flexibility. We need internationalism and an open world economy. Length: 13 pages Level: general Online-PDF

Kelley, Governor Edward W. Jr., "Thinking About Y2K", Owens Distinguished Lecture Series, Owens Graduate School of Management, Vanderbilt University, March 25, 1999. Fed governor discusses potential effects of the Y2K problem on the economy and what is being done to prevent these problems. Length: 7 pages Level: general Online-HTML