Reports & Academic Papers
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Preliminary Estimates of the Macroeconomic Costs of Cutting Federal Funding for Scientific Research
Federal agencies such as NIH and NSF are critical sources of funding for basic and applied scientific research. Recently, many of these agencies have seen their research operations frozen or downsized. This brief describes a new analysis of the macroeconomic costs of cutting federal funding for scientific R&D. The brief …
Assessing the Effects of Keeping Top Individual Income Tax Rates Low
The TCJA cut income taxes on top earners from 39.6% to 37%, among other changes. This brief assesses the macroeconomic impact of making the TCJA tax cut on top earners permanent compared to letting it expire and compared to raising it. IMPA’s assessment shows that permanent extension of the TCJA …
Technical Note on the Economics of Taxing Capital Gains
This technical note describes how, under the current system of capital gains taxation, capital gain income is taxed at lower rates than labor income—and only upon realization of the gains and with a step-up in basis at death. This system distorts the economy and contributes to inequality. Lower tax rates …
Taxing Excessive Profits: Designing a Pro-Competition Corporate Tax System
This brief, authored by Ira Regmi and Niko Lusiani, lays the groundwork for a pro-competition corporate income tax system, emphasizing the economic rationale for taxing the excess profits of large U.S. businesses. A preliminary draft was shared to kick off the IMPA-RI co-organized expert convening at American University in October …
Equity Prices, Market Power, and Optimal Corporate Tax Policy
This academic paper studies the optimal design of corporate tax policy in a textbook life-cycle model featuring two key deviations: (i) firms are imperfectly competitive and (ii) households save by purchasing equity shares in a stock market. In this simple environment, the financial wealth of savers is equal to the …
Evaluating the Harris and Trump Corporate Tax Proposals
Vice President Kamala Harris proposes raising the corporate tax rate to 28% from its current 21%, while former President Donald Trump proposes lowering it to 15%. The IMPA model projects that the Harris proposal will modestly increase GDP and government revenue. In contrast, it projects that the Trump proposal will …
