Giancarlo Corsetti, Gernot Müller
The design of public budget constraints and the effects of austerity policies are salient topics for both policymakers and scholars. The main goal of this literature is to understand whether and how fiscal adjustment can improve the sustainability of welfare systems (Alesina and Perotti 1996, Corsetti 2012, Born et al. 2015). Overall, previous studies find mixed effects on budget constraints in terms of deficit and public debt reduction (Asatryan et al. 2015, Grembi et al. 2016, Coviello et al. 2017, Heinemann et al. 2018). Recent studies have also focused on the adverse political effects of austerity policies (Stiglitz 2016, Fetzer 2019).
In a recent paper (Daniele and Giommoni 2020), we study the impact of fiscal austerity on corruption in the context of Italian municipalities. We find that these budget rules, the Domestic Stability Pact, has led to a reduction in corruption, driven by lower discretionary spending.
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Dr. Michael Thom
Mike is an associate professor at the University of Southern California s Sol Price School of Public Policy. His research appears in Public Administration Review, the American Review of Public Administration, Policy Studies Journal, State & Local Government Review, and several other journals. He is the author of two books, Tax Politics and Policy and Taxing Sin. He earned a Ph.D. in political science from Michigan State University.
By Dr. Michael Thom
Free Market Friday: Hollywood bailout a waste of funds By: Jonathan Small Guest Columnist April 22, 2021
Jonathan Small
Let’s say you have a choice between two bills. One benefits children and education. The other benefits out-of-state film companies whose leaders oppose the values most Oklahomans embrace. Also, the bill benefiting kids generates a return on investment 10 times greater than the other bill.
Which bill would you support? The answer is obvious. But Oklahoma lawmakers may be poised to pass the second bill while leaving the pro-student measure sidelined.
This year, lawmakers have the chance to increase the size of the state’s tax-credit scholarship program, which has allowed many low-income students to escape bad public schools for excellent private schools. Independent analysis has shown the program saves state funding.
Korea, US should promote vaccine partnership
Posted : 2020-12-23 16:27
By Park Jin
The resurging coronavirus is wreaking havoc on a global scale. The U.S. records spiraling new infection cases exceeding 250,000 a day. The Republic of Korea had managed to keep the coronavirus eruption largely under control until recently. Due to the cold weather and perhaps slack containment however, the daily outbreaks of COVID-19 have been surpassing 1,000 since mid-December.
The resurgence of the COVID-19 pandemic has forced many countries to race for the acquisition of vaccines to prevent the unbridled spread of the potentially fatal disease. The Trump administration expedited the development of high-tech vaccines, spearheaded by leading companies such as Pfizer and Moderna. President-elect Joe Biden has already committed to ensuring that at least 100 million Americans get vaccine shots within 100 days of his inauguration.