Product Description: As the average age of the population continues to rise in industrialized nations, the fiscal impacts of aging demand ever-closer attention. Closing the Deficit examines one oft-discussed approach to the issue—encouraging people to work longer than they now do...read more

'Examines the use of rationing as a means to curb health care spending, using the experience of Great Britain to highlight the promises and pitfalls of this approach'--Provided by publisher.

'Examines the use of rationing as a means to curb health care spending, using the experience of Great Britain to highlight the promises and pitfalls of this approach'--Provided by publisher.

People pay taxes for two reasons. On the positive side, most people recognize, even if grudgingly, that payment of tax is a duty of citizenship. On the negative side, they know that the law requires payment, that evasion is a crime, and that willful failure to pay taxes is punishable by fines or imprisonment. The practical questions for tax administration are how to strengthen each of these motives to comply with the law. How much should be spent on enforcement and how should enforcement be organized to promote these objectives and achieve the best results per dollar spent? Over the last few years, the U.S. Congress has restricted spending on tax administration, forcing the Internal Revenue Service to curtail enforcement activities, at the same time, that the number of individual filers has increased, tax rules have become more complex, and more business have become multinational operations. But if too many cases of tax evasion go undetected and unpunished, those who may have grudgingly paid their taxes may soon find it easier to join the scofflaws. These events in combination have created a genuine crisis in tax administration. The chapters in this volume evaluate the capacity of authorities to enforce the tax laws in a modern, global economy and examine the implications of failing to do so. Specific aspects of tax law, including tax shelters, issues relating to small businesses, tax software, role of tax preparers, and the objectives of tax simplification are examined in detail. The volume also builds a conceptual basis for future scholarship, with regard not only to tax administration, but also to such fundamental questions as whether taxpayers respond mostly to economic incentives or are influenced by their experiences with the filing process and what is the proper framework for evaluating the allocation of resources within the IRS.

Product Description: Many medical authorities predict that average life expectancy could well exceed 100 years by mid century and rise even higher soon thereafter. This astonishing prospect, brought on by the revolution in molecular biology and information technology, confronts policymakers and public health officials with a host of new questions...read more

Product Description: More powerful and affluent today than ever, the United States has promising opportunities to influence the course of history. Yet these prospects are shadowed by significant perils and burdens. In this visionary book, leading scholars from the Brookings Institution and other prominent research organizations and universities analyze the major domestic and foreign policy problems facing the nation over the next five to ten years...read more (view table of contents, read Amazon.com's description)

Product Description: Academic medical centers provide cutting edge acute care, train tomorrow's physicians, and carry out research that will expand the range of treatable and curable illnesses. But these centers themselves may need urgent care—experts generally agree that many are suffering acute—even life-threatening—financial distress...read more (view table of contents, read Amazon.com's description)

Product Description: In this revised and updated edition of their influential book, two of the nation's most widely respected economists argue that calls for scrapping Social Security in favor of a privatized plan are misguided and that the claims that the system faces bankruptcy are not only exaggerated, they are just plain wrong...read more (view table of contents, read Amazon.com's description)

Product Description: Deciding when and how to retire are among the most important decisions most people make. Can they be depended on to plan with foresight and make sound decisions? According to standard economic analysis the answer is a qualified "yes...read more (view table of contents, read Amazon.com's description)

Product Description: "If the subject of influence in Washington interests you, this series of books deserves your respectful attention...it has changed the ways in which American politicians think about the budget." - The Washington Post For the first time in more than four decades, the federal budget has registered two consecutive surpluses, and the need to reduce the deficit is not casting a pall over the policy debate...read more (view table of contents, read Amazon.com's description)

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Discusses how to develop arm strength and endurance, perfect new pitches, maintain control of the plate, pitch strategically, and field one's position

Product Description: In this indispensable resource for everyone who cares about tax reform, the authors describe each of the major reform proposals and assess the likely effects of each plan on important aspects of economic behavior.

Product Description: The federal policy changes that Congress and the President will have to make as we approach the 21st century will be among the most far-reaching since the enactment of the New Deal. The scope of legislation before policymakers as they continue their efforts to balance the budget will be vast and many of its elements very technical...read more

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Product Description: Why did President Clinton's efforts to reform the financing of American health care fail? For years to come, politicians and scholars of public policy will revisit the debate over Clinton's health care plan. What did planners do right? And what did they do wrong? How can the mistakes of that experience be avoided in the future? What steps can now be taken to achieve some measure of reform in smaller pieces? In The Problem That Won't Go Away, economists, political scientists, sociologists, public opinion experts, and government staff offer answers to these and other crucial questions...read more

Product Description: Why did President Clinton's efforts to reform the financing of American health care fail? For years to come, politicians and scholars of public policy will revisit the debate over Clinton's health care plan. What did planners do right? And what did they do wrong? How can the mistakes of that experience be avoided in the future? What steps can now be taken to achieve some measure of reform in smaller pieces? In The Problem That Won't Go Away, economists, political scientists, sociologists, public opinion experts, and government staff offer answers to these and other crucial questions...read more

Examines the role that personal values--interests, beliefs, and morals--play in the larger scheme of creating public policy

Product Description: In recent years, workers earnings have hardly grown, violence and crime have plagued the inner cities, homelessness and public begging have become commonplace, and family life has greatly deteriorated. With governments facing large deficits and slowly growing revenues, and public distrust in the efficiency of government and elected officials at all-time highs, the authors ask, "What can government do for you?"This book brings together a prominent group of experts to answer this critical question...read more

Product Description: The United States spends more on health care than any other nation in the world, yet millions of Americans cannot afford basic care for acute illnesses, few are insured against the costs of long-term care, and many frequently used medical procedures have never been fully evaluated...read more

An analysis of current federal policy reviews economic, social, environmental, and foreign affairs priorities and their impact on the budget

Product Description: These proceedings present a spectrum of opinions on such questions as: Should Social Security be in or out of the budget? Should Social Security reserves be included in deficit reduction targets? How large will the cost of the aging population be? What does the public think about Social Security and the budget and how will those opinions influence the budget process? What contribution, if any, should Social Security make to a deficit reduction compromise? Participants in the conference included members of Congress, social insurance experts, policy analysts and Congressional and Executive branch staff...read more

Product Description: These proceedings present a spectrum of opinions on such questions as: Should Social Security be in or out of the budget? Should Social Security reserves be included in deficit reduction targets? How large will the cost of the aging population be? What does the public think about Social Security and the budget and how will those opinions influence the budget process? What contribution, if any, should Social Security make to a deficit reduction compromise? Participants in the conference included members of Congress, social insurance experts, policy analysts and Congressional and Executive branch staff...read more

Examines the effects of rising social security costs and of measures adopted to deal with them, and discusses possible ways of coping with the shortfall of available money for the aging American population