ISSN:1074-3529    

DOI:10.1111/j.1465-7287.1992.tb00231.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1992

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

The question at the heart of the capital gains tax debate is whether taxing some people at a different rate than others having the same income is appropriate. Those who justify such a preference base their arguments on the concepts of economic efficiency and fairness. However, recent experience with capital gains tax decreases and increases strongly suggests that a change in the current law would yield little or no benefit. The burden of proof should rest on those who would violate the basic principle of equal tax rates on incomes from whatever source.

ISSN:1074-3529    

DOI:10.1111/j.1465-7287.1992.tb00232.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1992

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

Large recent surpluses in the social security trust fund accounts provide the potential to increase overall national saving and capital formation. However, these surpluses instead have allowed politicians to increase the non‐social security deficit and government consumption.This paper argues that investing the trust funds in private assets could bring into focus the magnitude of the non‐social security deficit and force Congress to cut it. Evidence presented here indicates that the trade deficit, output, and monetary policy are systematic macroeconomic variables that affect relative asset prices. The evidence also supports arguments of Nordhaus and others that a change in trust fund investment policy could lower the trade deficit, raise output, and produce looser monetary policy, thereby increasing Tobin's a and, thus, capital formation. Investing the trust funds in private assets could increase national investment and give the baby‐bust generation more capital to use in producing goods and services for themselves and for retired baby‐

ISSN:1074-3529    

DOI:10.1111/j.1465-7287.1992.tb00233.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1992

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

This paper argues against using the forced savings concept to explain saving behavior of Soviet consumers. It discusses reasons for consumers in a traditional Soviet economy to save less than their counterparts in market economies at similar economic development stages. These reasons include low variability of life cycle income, large state subsidies to major consumption items, ability of retirees to compensate for low money income by acquiring goods at state‐controlled prices through standing in queues, and limited choice of financial instruments. When transition to a market economy occurs or is expected to occur, consumers tend to increase their savings. The way to deal with the Soviet system's inefficiencies is to liberalize currently controlled prices and to implement other market reforms, which would result in lifting official restrictions on already existing market forces. Market reforms, in turn, will help achieve financial stability. The Soviet economy's problem is not excessive saving but rather the excessive role of the stat

ISSN:1074-3529    

DOI:10.1111/j.1465-7287.1992.tb00234.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1992

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

Researchers have attributed 15 percent of global methane releases to emissions of methane from enteric fermentation in animals (wild and domestic). Bovines contribute approximately two‐thirds of this amount. Since methane is a potent greenhouse gas, this source frequently is a target for emission reductions. However, the existing literature overstates the importance of bovine methane as a greenhouse gas by as much as 800 percent. Estimates to date have focused solely on gas emissions, ignoring the biological and chemical cycling that removes carbon from the atmosphere. The analysis presented here demonstrates the importance of these cycles in assessing the overall greenhouse effect of biological methane sources such as rice production, termites, and bovine animals. Ignoring this cycling results in overemphasizing the role of developing countries' total contributions to climate change. In economic terms, the analysis shows that reducing CO2 emissions from energy use in industrialized countries is more efficient than reducing net greenhouse methane from animal source

ISSN:1074-3529    

DOI:10.1111/j.1465-7287.1992.tb00235.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1992

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

The 1990 Oil Pollution Act mandates double hulls for new ocean‐going tankers unless the U.S. Coast Guard can find superior designs to reduce oil spill risks. This paper, based on a 1991 National Research Council (NRC) study of alternative tanker designs, examines policy implications of prescribing construction standards. Alternative construction designs for tankers, such as that of the Exxon Valdez, have markedly differing effects both on oil transport costs and on the risks of future oil spills. Annual costs of shipping oil to the United States would rise by anywhere from $462 million to $2,047 billion, depending on which of five plausible designs are selected. The chief objective of such designs is to reduce the outflow of oil occurring during groundings and collisions. Over the past decade, an average of about 7,500 tons have spilled annually from these causes in U.S. waters—representing roughly 20 percent of transportation‐related maritime oil pollution in 1990. NRC‐sponsored simulation research indicates that the various designs likely would prevent 2,600–5,600 tons from being spilled in a typical year. The paper presents cost‐effectiveness comparisons of the alternatives, contrasting these with available information on societal benefits per ton of oil spill avoided. Costs appear substantial relative to benefits, and lawmakers' emphasis on design standards deflects attention from alternative risk reduction strategies—e.g., operation and maintenance measures—that warrant

ISSN:1074-3529    

DOI:10.1111/j.1465-7287.1992.tb00236.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1992

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

The 13 regional corporations established by the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971 (ANCSA) historically have performed poorly. The illusory appearance of improved performance during the latter 1980s resulted from a temporary tax loophole and accounting conventions for undeveloped land. The firms have performed poorly primarily because of ANCSA restrictions, which have not changed substantially since the Act's passage. This paper examines the 13 regional corporations'financial performance from 1984 to 1989 and suggests ways of alleviating the costs of these restrictions. Most importantly, the authors recommend that future Native settlements avoid the organizational restrictions inherent in ANCSA.

ISSN:1074-3529    

DOI:10.1111/j.1465-7287.1992.tb00237.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1992

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

This paper discusses the design, implementation and administration of comparable worth legislation in Canada, focusing particular attention on the potential of comparable worth to close the male‐female earnings gap. The authors document the Canadian legislative initiatives, provide illustrative evidence on the impact of comparable worth, and identify the main policy lessons to be learned from the experience of Canada, where the comparable worth concept has evolved furthes

ISSN:1074-3529    

DOI:10.1111/j.1465-7287.1992.tb00238.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1992

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

Congress, late in 1991, enacted a banking reform measure that (i) authorizes $70 billion of additional FDIC funding, (ii) enhances bank regulation and supervision, and (Hi) adopts a “trip wire” system for increasingly severe regulation based on a bank's capital. Congress rejected a number of key elements of the Treasury proposal submitted early in 1991, such as interstate banking and expanded bank powers. The Congressional action does not end the debate over banking reform. In due time, other attempts likely will be made to restructure the banking system along the lines of the Treasury proposal.The Treasury proposal's positive points failed to offset its fundamental problems. The Congressional action, though not subject to the Treasury proposal's problems, falls short of complete deposit insurance reform. Both proposals fail to recognize that regulatory oversight is a poor substitute for market discipline in the current financial environment.This paper reviews problems with the financial reform process and failure of the Treasury proposal to recognize these problems. It also reviews alternative approaches to deposit insurance ref

ISSN:1074-3529    

DOI:10.1111/j.1465-7287.1992.tb00239.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1992

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

With banking currently in turmoil, a new formula for bank structure and activities, for deposit insurance, and for bank regulation is necessary. This paper reviews the dilemmas of the current structure of banking in the United States and explains how the banking sector arrived at its current state of crisis. It then suggests three alternative formulas, along with their advantages and disadvantages, that could provide the future framework for banking, deposit insurance, and regulation.

ISSN:1074-3529    

DOI:10.1111/j.1465-7287.1992.tb00240.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1992

数据来源: WILEY