Hello Ledger reader, Happy August recess!

In lieu of the traditional Ledger this month, I will be sending you a small selection of our top research from recent years. The topics are chosen to help you prep for the September onslaught, when the potential for a government shutdown, debt limit, and decision about the next Federal Reserve chairman will come into focus. As always, you can find all of our research at www.aei.org or @aeiecon. Please let me know if you have any questions. Enjoy, Abby

Subject: August Briefing #1: Tax reform (AEI Economics Ledger) If you have trouble reading this message, click here to view it as a web page.

AEIs top tax research

Another tax on savings -- Obamacare. Alan Viard: Under the 2010 healthcare reform law, a 3.8 percent tax on interest, dividends, capital gains, and passive business income received by high-income households took effect on January 1. . . . Economists across the ideological spectrum agree . . . the longrun growth path depends upon the quantity of labor and capital available to the economy. Taxes around the world. Kevin Hassett and Aparna Mathur: [We] provide a brief overview of U.S. tax policy, in relation to other OECD countries and also in some cases, in relation to world averages. It is clear from this discussion that while the U.S. currently does well in terms of labor taxation, it is out of line when it comes to corporate taxation. Six long-run tax and budget realities. Michael Strain and Alan Viard: The middle class will bear much of the burden of addressing the fiscal imbalance through entitlement benefit cuts and tax increases. Contrary to the beliefs or hopes of some policymakers, the long-run fiscal imbalance cannot be closed solely by taxing the top 2 or 3 percent of the income distribution or by gutting safety net programs for the bottom 20 percent. ALL IN ONE PLACE -- AEIs best work on tax reform can be found here. Follow us at @AEIecon Read more from the American Enterprise Institute economic policy team at www.aei.org. Contact Abby at abby.mccloskey@aei.org if you have questions or comments for the economics team. Sign up for a weekly copy of the LEDGER here. If you were forwarded this message, click here to subscribe to AEI newsletters. Click here to unsubscribe or manage your subscriptions.

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