Towards a tax constitution for Leviathan

This paper attempts to derive normative tax rules based on the constitutional calculus of the typical voter–taxpayer when he predicts that post-constitutional political processes will be dominated by a budget-maximizing Leviathan-like bureaucracy. In this setting, selection of tax institutions becomes part of the apparatus by which Leviathan is constrained. Such an approach generates tax rules strikingly at variance with more conventional norms. In particular, the goal of a ‘comprehensive’ tax base, which informs standard analysis, gives way to a preference for specific limitations on the width of the tax base: moves towards a greater comprehensiveness will lead inexorably to larger public spending, and beyond some point are clearly undesirable. The analysis also implies a rather unconventional defense of progression in the tax structure. An attempt is made to relate the discussion to contemporary tax reform issues.     

The production and trade of manufactured products in the EEC and EFTA: A comparison

This paper presents an examination and comparison of trade creation and trade diversion in the EEC and EFTA. The methodology is based upon changes in shares of expenditure on apparent consumption of manufactured products between 1960 and 1968 on a disaggregated basis. The results indicate that there was considerable trade creation and only a modest amount of trade diversion for each trade bloc. In fact, there was in the aggregate net external trade created due largely to an expansion in imports from outside of either trade bloc and the United States. Despite their different memberships and tariff experiences, the results for the two trade blocs are remarkably similar.     

Demographic changes and economic consequences: Demo-economic multiplier for Austria

"The aim of [this] paper is the development of the demo-economic accounting linkage (demo-economic multiplier) between population development and the production of goods and services in the context of a comparative static analysis." The demo-economic multiplier is derived to indicate the economic conseqences of different household types. The impact of population size and structure on the economy is evaluated. A model is derived based on the demographic pattern of the Austrian population for 1974