Redistributive Taxation in the Era of Globalization

This paper analyzes the impact globalization has on voting for redistributive policies in an increasingly integrated world. It explains why tax competition has so far not led to a significant decline in redistributive taxation. The voting process is considered for the two alternatives of direct democracy and representative democracy. In both regimes, globalization pushes down the scope for redistribution, but this effect is mitigated with political representation, since the electorate votes strategically for a slightly more left-wing politician with stronger preferences for redistribution. Moreover, voting polarizes twice, with respect to governments' preferences for redistribution and to equilibrium tax rates.     

IX. Geld und kapital

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Club of Rome study: Limited prospects

No other scientific publication in recent months has caused more of a stir and stimulated discussion than the Forrester-Meadows Study of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) on behalf of the Club of Rome. In the following article the pessimistic assessment of the outlook for mankind in the MIT study is subjected to a critical examination.     

Does EMU need stage two?

The Delors Committee’s three stage plan for attaining European Economic and Monetary Union has met with heavy criticism and has given rise to various counter-proposals. The following article examines the relative merits and shortcomings of the Delors Plan and the alternative concepts presented by the Deutsche Bundesbank and the British Government.     

IX. Geld und Kapital

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

On least favourable two point priors and minimax estimators under absolute error loss

Summary In case of absolute error loss we investigate for an arbitrary class of probability distributions, if or if not a two point prior can be least favourable and a corresponding Bayes estimator can be minimax when the parameter is restricted to a closed and bounded interval of ℝ. The general results are applied to several examples, for instance location and scale parameter families are considered. We give examples for which, independent of the length of the parameter interval, no two point priors exist. On the other hand examples are given having a least favourable two point prior when the parameter interval is sufficiently small.