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August 6, 2024
Debate over the potential renewal of the so-called Trump tax cuts of 2017 will be building as their expiration approaches next year. The focus will likely be on corporate and personal tax rates. But there’s a less-appreciated but consequential side effect of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act: its impact on charitable giving. Simply put,…
August 5, 2024
When Congress passed and President Trump signed into law the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act at the end of 2017, most attention centered on the reduction in the corporate tax rate and overhaul of the individual tax code. Few noticed a provision added at the last minute establishing a new place-based policy in the United…
August 2, 2024
Today’s US jobs report finds the nation’s unemployment rate increased to 4.3 percent in July. According to a measure often cited by liberal policymakers, that suggests the US has entered a recession, undercutting President Biden’s boast just last week that the US has “the strongest economy in the world.” That grinding contradiction is only reinforced…
August 1, 2024
Key Points Read the full pdf.
August 1, 2024
As a U.S. senator, Vice President Kamala Harris had a remarkably slim record of accomplishments, shepherding only a handful of minor resolutions across the finish line. But that’s far from the last word on her legislative record. In fact, two bills she introduced (that went nowhere) may best define her past, and potential future, priorities…
July 29, 2024
What makes a marriage succeed or fail? To answer this question, psychologist John Gottman set up what came to be known as the “Love Lab” at the University of Washington in Seattle. Couples were invited to spend a weekend in a plush apartment with scenic views as Gottman and his team monitored their body language,…
July 29, 2024
Not in my backyard (NIMBY) adherents across the country are beginning to weaponize a recent Urban Institute study that reviewed 180 zoning reforms and concluded these reforms barely affected the housing supply. Given Urban’s wide distribution and the paper’s seemingly comprehensive approach, coupled with the eagerness of NIMBYs to exploit such research, housing supply advocates need to be aware…
July 26, 2024
The latest in a series of important reports on social mobility by the research group Opportunity Insights is out, and it’s another conversation-changer. Across a variety of outcomes in adulthood and adolescence, the gap between black Americans who grew up with low-income parents and their white counterparts has narrowed over time. This news is certainly…
July 24, 2024
As the American Worker Project analysis shows, real wages have increased over time. Real wages are nominal wages corrected for changes in the price level, and a natural approach to understanding the way in which housing policy affects real wages is through (housing) prices. But the importance of housing to the economic well-being of the typical American…
July 23, 2024
Key Points Read the PDF. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) of 2017 included some of the most far-reaching changes to the US income tax code in a generation. In addition to reducing statutory tax rates for individuals and corporations, the law adjusted the tax base. Among its most significant changes to the individual…