Research Library

The House recently passed the Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act (TRAFWA) of 2024, which aims to provide tax relief to businesses and families with children in a fiscally responsible manner. But, as fellow John W. Diamond’s new commentary explains, if the bill succeeds, it would instead deliver more reckless tax giveaways while further delaying a real effort to deal with the consequences of poor fiscal policy.

Legislative action on the ballooning federal deficit is long overdue. Fellow John W. Diamond proposes a new nonpartisan fiscal commission to bypass congressional inaction on reform.

Convening war rooms, planning speedy bailouts and raising "house-on-fire" alarm bells: Those are a few of the ways the biggest banks and financial regulators are preparing for a potential default on U.S. debt.

Texas lawmakers must address the misuse of anticipation notes — short-term debt securities used to raise money for public projects, writes John Diamond, the Edward A. and Hermena Hancock Kelly Fellow in Public Finance. Since they don’t require voter approval, politicians could use them to fund unwanted projects, he explains.

The most recent price tag for Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan is an estimated half-trillion dollars or more. Will higher inflation be another cost?

As the world faces the latest wave of COVID-19, a vaccine produced by health fellow Peter Hotez and his colleague Maria Elena Bottazzi is ready to be deployed. Their CORBEVAX vaccine is inexpensive, effective, safe and easy to store and distribute, they write. Read their article in Scientific American: https://bit.ly/3n28isA

"The framework of science tikkun — repairing the world through science and global scientific cooperation — offers a path for countering a new rise in antiscience aggression," writes fellow Peter Hotez in The FASEB Journal. Find his perspective on how here.

"This is a moment to prioritise health over short-term political calculations," write fellow Peter Hotez, Rekha Lakshmanan
 and nine other experts in a Lancet commentary. Click here for their call for action against anti-vaccine rhetoric and COVID-19 misinformation, and five short-term recommendations.

As the Budget Control Act nears expiry, it is important to reflect on its effectiveness — does the BCA provide a framework for curtailing unsustainable deficits and moving to a sustainable fiscal policy?  Read the authors' analysis at the Baker Institute Blog.