William G Gale
Biographic Data
| ID | 1471008 |
|---|---|
| NAME | William G Gale |
| GIVEN NAMES | William G |
| FAMILY NAME | Gale |
| SIGNATURE | GALE W G |
| AFFILIATIONS | Brookings Institution |
| VERIFIED | No |
| TOTAL WORKS | 9 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 78 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 9 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1994 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2024 |
| H-INDEX | 4 |
Sweeping Changes and an Uncertain Legacy: The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) of 2017 introduced sweeping changes to individual and corporate taxation. We summarize the major provisions, trace the origins of the Act, and compare it to previous tax changes. We also examine the effects on the government budget, economic activity, and distribution of resources. Based on evidence through 2019, we find that the TCJA clearly raised federal debt and increased after-tax incomes, disproportionately …
Consumption Taxes: The Good, the Bad, and the Unworkable
When the Republican Party took the majority in the U.S. House of Representatives in early 2023, there were increased calls to replace existing tax structures with a national consumption tax.Specifically, the FairTax Act of 2023, introduced to the House in January 2023, calls for a 23 percent sales tax on goods and services in lieu of current income, payroll, and estate and gift taxes.Calls for national consumption taxes, like what is included in …
What are the social benefits of homeownership? Experimental evidence for low-income households
Activist Fiscal Policy
During and after the "Great Recession" that began in December 2007 the U.S. federal government enacted several rounds of activist fiscal policy. In this paper, we review the recent evolution of thinking and evidence regarding the effectiveness of activist fiscal policy. Although fiscal interventions aimed at stimulating and stabilizing the economy have returned to common use, their efficacy remains controversial. We review the debate about the tr…
Policy Watch: The Expanding Reach of the Individual Alternative Minimum Tax
The individual alternative minimum tax (AMT) was designed in 1970 to apply reduce aggressive tax sheltering, but under current law will grow to cover tens of millions of households in the next decade. The growth occurs because the AMT is not indexed for inflation and the 2001 tax cut reduced regular income taxes but not the AMT. AMT growth is troubling because the tax has questionable effects on equity and efficiency and is inordinately complex. …
Policy Watch: Death Watch for the Estate Tax
Congress voted to phase out the estate tax over 10 years, but President Clinton vetoed the bill. In 2000, both Houses voted again to eliminate the tax, this time with significant Democratic support, and the bill was vetoed a second time. Additional legislation seems very likely in the near future
The Effects of Pensions on Household Wealth: A Reevaluation of Theory and Evidence
This paper examines the extent to which households offset pension wealth with reductions in other wealth. Systematic econometric biases imply that the estimated offsets in previous empirical studies are smaller than the true offset and may even have the wrong sign. New empirical estimates that do not correct for the biases generate little offset between pensions and other wealth. Estimates that correct for the biases show substantially more offse…
The Illusory Effects of Saving Incentives on Saving
The authors evaluate research on how tax-based saving incentives (IRAs and 401(k)s) affect saving. Previous research overstates the impact of the incentives on saving by failing to account for several issues: households with saving incentives have stronger tastes for saving than others; saving incentives have interacted with debt, nonfinancial assets, financial markets, and pensions; and saving incentives represent pretax balances, whereas taxabl…
Intergenerational Transfers and the Accumulation of Wealth
This paper uses household data to provide direct estimates of intergenerational transfers as a source of wealth. The authors distinguish between intended transfers (for example, gifts to other households) and possibly unintended transfers (bequests) and estimate that intended transfers account for at least 20 percent of net worth. Thus, a significant portion of the U.S. wealth cannot be explained by the life-cycle model, even when the model is au…
Intergenerational Transfers and the Accumulation of Wealth
This paper uses household data to provide direct estimates of intergenerational transfers as a source of wealth. The authors distinguish between intended transfers (for example, gifts to other households) and possibly unintended transfers (bequests) and estimate that intended transfers account for at least 20 percent of net worth. Thus, a significant portion of the U.S. wealth cannot be explained by the life-cycle model, even when the model is au…
What are the social benefits of homeownership? Experimental evidence for low-income households
The Illusory Effects of Saving Incentives on Saving
The authors evaluate research on how tax-based saving incentives (IRAs and 401(k)s) affect saving. Previous research overstates the impact of the incentives on saving by failing to account for several issues: households with saving incentives have stronger tastes for saving than others; saving incentives have interacted with debt, nonfinancial assets, financial markets, and pensions; and saving incentives represent pretax balances, whereas taxabl…
The Effects of Pensions on Household Wealth: A Reevaluation of Theory and Evidence
This paper examines the extent to which households offset pension wealth with reductions in other wealth. Systematic econometric biases imply that the estimated offsets in previous empirical studies are smaller than the true offset and may even have the wrong sign. New empirical estimates that do not correct for the biases generate little offset between pensions and other wealth. Estimates that correct for the biases show substantially more offse…
Activist Fiscal Policy
During and after the "Great Recession" that began in December 2007 the U.S. federal government enacted several rounds of activist fiscal policy. In this paper, we review the recent evolution of thinking and evidence regarding the effectiveness of activist fiscal policy. Although fiscal interventions aimed at stimulating and stabilizing the economy have returned to common use, their efficacy remains controversial. We review the debate about the tr…
Policy Watch: The Expanding Reach of the Individual Alternative Minimum Tax
The individual alternative minimum tax (AMT) was designed in 1970 to apply reduce aggressive tax sheltering, but under current law will grow to cover tens of millions of households in the next decade. The growth occurs because the AMT is not indexed for inflation and the 2001 tax cut reduced regular income taxes but not the AMT. AMT growth is troubling because the tax has questionable effects on equity and efficiency and is inordinately complex. …
Intergenerational Transfers and the Accumulation of Wealth
This paper uses household data to provide direct estimates of intergenerational transfers as a source of wealth. The authors distinguish between intended transfers (for example, gifts to other households) and possibly unintended transfers (bequests) and estimate that intended transfers account for at least 20 percent of net worth. Thus, a significant portion of the U.S. wealth cannot be explained by the life-cycle model, even when the model is au…
The Illusory Effects of Saving Incentives on Saving
The authors evaluate research on how tax-based saving incentives (IRAs and 401(k)s) affect saving. Previous research overstates the impact of the incentives on saving by failing to account for several issues: households with saving incentives have stronger tastes for saving than others; saving incentives have interacted with debt, nonfinancial assets, financial markets, and pensions; and saving incentives represent pretax balances, whereas taxabl…
The Effects of Pensions on Household Wealth: A Reevaluation of Theory and Evidence
This paper examines the extent to which households offset pension wealth with reductions in other wealth. Systematic econometric biases imply that the estimated offsets in previous empirical studies are smaller than the true offset and may even have the wrong sign. New empirical estimates that do not correct for the biases generate little offset between pensions and other wealth. Estimates that correct for the biases show substantially more offse…
Policy Watch: Death Watch for the Estate Tax
Congress voted to phase out the estate tax over 10 years, but President Clinton vetoed the bill. In 2000, both Houses voted again to eliminate the tax, this time with significant Democratic support, and the bill was vetoed a second time. Additional legislation seems very likely in the near future
Policy Watch: The Expanding Reach of the Individual Alternative Minimum Tax
The individual alternative minimum tax (AMT) was designed in 1970 to apply reduce aggressive tax sheltering, but under current law will grow to cover tens of millions of households in the next decade. The growth occurs because the AMT is not indexed for inflation and the 2001 tax cut reduced regular income taxes but not the AMT. AMT growth is troubling because the tax has questionable effects on equity and efficiency and is inordinately complex. …
What are the social benefits of homeownership? Experimental evidence for low-income households
Activist Fiscal Policy
During and after the "Great Recession" that began in December 2007 the U.S. federal government enacted several rounds of activist fiscal policy. In this paper, we review the recent evolution of thinking and evidence regarding the effectiveness of activist fiscal policy. Although fiscal interventions aimed at stimulating and stabilizing the economy have returned to common use, their efficacy remains controversial. We review the debate about the tr…
Consumption Taxes: The Good, the Bad, and the Unworkable
When the Republican Party took the majority in the U.S. House of Representatives in early 2023, there were increased calls to replace existing tax structures with a national consumption tax.Specifically, the FairTax Act of 2023, introduced to the House in January 2023, calls for a 23 percent sales tax on goods and services in lieu of current income, payroll, and estate and gift taxes.Calls for national consumption taxes, like what is included in …
Sweeping Changes and an Uncertain Legacy: The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) of 2017 introduced sweeping changes to individual and corporate taxation. We summarize the major provisions, trace the origins of the Act, and compare it to previous tax changes. We also examine the effects on the government budget, economic activity, and distribution of resources. Based on evidence through 2019, we find that the TCJA clearly raised federal debt and increased after-tax incomes, disproportionately …
Economics (9 works) · Financial Literacy, Pension, Retirement Analysis (6 works) · Fiscal Policy and Economic Growth (6 works) · Gender, Labor, and Family Dynamics (5 works) · Public economics (5 works) · Finance (4 works) · Political science (4 works) · Housing Market and Economics (3 works) · Labour economics (3 works) · Monetary economics (3 works)