Wealth taxes could even increase the nation’s productivity. Many wealthy people don’t invest their fortunes particularly efficiently earning mediocre returns on their assets. Economist Fatih Guvenen and co-authors have suggested that wealth taxation could help to liberate this unproductive capital for more productive uses.

To date prices of energy have not reflected the risk of future climate damages. This is a stupid mistake and has resulted in too much climate risk. Not pricing climate risk is a bug in the tax code. It can be easily and quickly fixed.

The payoff from early learning is huge, but how best to allot funds for it is in dispute. Here's a compromise idea that bridges the gap.

Bob Litterman said a strong, global carbon tax could keep warming below 2 degrees Celsius from pre-industrial levels — but it needs to happen now. In fact, he said current policies favor production and consumption of fossil fuels.

On September 21, dozens of Edward C. Prescott’s former students gathered for a conference covering topics such as affordable housing, Medicaid, tax policy, and bank regulation, that all tied back to contributions Prescott has made to the field of economics.

From the beginning of his academic career, economics senior Kazimier Smith has been able to dig in to research. “I think a lot of times research ideas come from places you wouldn’t think they come from,” he says.

Is a secure retirement in the U.S. a thing of the past? Join us on Tuesday, April 23 at 5:30 pm to hear from the experts.

For nearly three generations, the United States and scores of other nations have prospered through trade governed by international rules. But in the last couple of years, University of Minnesota economist Tim Kehoe has watched with alarm as global trade pacts have come under attack by the Trump Administration. In a recent interview, Kehoe outlined the risks of a new era of America First trade policies.

The time for slowly reducing fossil fuel consumption is past. The moment has arrived to slam on the brakes – hard and fast. Full stop, as soon as possible. Not just in Minnesota, but around the nation and across the world.