Here's a method for estimating pi that basically requires a dartboard, faith in the relative frequency interpretation of probability, and plenty of time.
Here's a method for estimating pi that basically requires a dartboard, faith in the relative frequency interpretation of probability, and plenty of time. We’ve released a new study today exploring the annual cost of a typical cap-and-trade system to U.S. households.
The study uses a standard Leontief input-output model to estimate how cap-and-trade burdens are passed down to households in the form of higher prices for carbon-intensive products. We present distributional [...]
(See this post at Chamberlain Economics, LLC.)
All good economics starts with theory. The world is a complicated place—far too complex to make sense of directly. Economic theory helps collapse that complexity into a few key relationships we can work out mathematically and check against the facts. The first step [...]
We’ve officially launched Chamberlain Economics, L.L.C. this month. The company pulls together the economic research, writing, and modeling I’ve been doing recently into a full-service economic consulting firm.
Every think tank, business or local government has studies they’d like done. But they often lack the technical skills and manpower [...]
We released my latest study today, which explores the tax burden and economic impact of the proposed “Gang of Ten” energy bill currently working its way through Congress.
The energy bill proposes roughly $84 billion in new federal spending on conservation and alternative energy programs, to be funded partly [...]
(Note: The equations in this article are hard to read in HTML. For a PDF version click here.)
When I sat down to write a paper on gross receipts taxes two years ago, there was surprisingly little written on them. Since then, there’s been an outpouring of scholarship [...]
(See this article at Chamberlain Economics, L.L.C. also.)
One of the hard parts about building Leontief input-output models is that the source data are hard to use.
Instead of producing a real input-output table, the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) produces what they call “use” and “make” tables. [...]
(See this article at Chamberlain Economics, L.L.C. also.)
Like most concepts in economics, price elasticity is easy to talk about but hard to measure. Most people understand the basic idea—some things have lots of substitutes while others we can’t do without. But few learn how to actually measure elasticity [...]
Like most concepts in economics, price elasticity is easy to talk about but hard to measure. Most people understand the basic idea—some things have lots of substitutes while others we can’t do without. But few learn how to actually measure elasticity in the real world.
In this post, I’ll [...]
I’ve got a new analysis of a proposal in Tennessee to fund a package of education, smoking cessasion and farm program spending with a 40-cent increase in the state’s cigarette tax. Unfortunately there’s an unanticipated side effect:
While the Governor’s plan to boost education spending may be well intended, funding [...]
It’s tough saying goodbye to policy work. But someday I knew I’d have to get out of D.C. and get a real job.
Anyhow, since I’m not writing anymore this is probably the last post I’ll make on this public blog.
If you’ve got questions about my old research, email [...]
Released a new report today exploring the distribution of tax burdens and government expenditures by age group in 2004. It’s a spin-off project from the fiscal incidence model we built back in March. Here are some key findings:
• As the Baby Boom generation prepares to retire, lawmakers should [...]
Our fiscal incidence study got a nice write up in this morning’s New York Sun. The author compares our findings to an influential new study of tax progressivity from Profs. Thomas Piketty and Emmanuel Saez:
Messrs. Chamberlain and Prante took an entirely different approach [from Piketty and Saez]. Rather [...]
I’ve got a new podcast interview out today. The subject: our recent study of combined U.S. tax and spending distributions. As always, there’s a transcript.
[...]Released a new report this week on our 2007 Annual Survey of U.S. Attitudes on Taxes and Wealth. This is the third year weve done the survey, so weve got a decent time series going on some of the questions. Heres the executive summary:
Executive Summary
While foreign policy continues [...]
