Maxwell School News and Commentary

“You have two states that [we]re the same, were pretty middle-of-the-road in terms of life expectancy, but they take opposite trajectories,” says University Professor Jennifer Karas Montez. Some states, she says, took action to “invest in [the state] population’s overall economic well-being and health. And you had other states that took a...very different approach.”

Using a 40-year panel dataset from Texas, Yilin Hou and co-author identify leader municipalities in changing sales tax rates and examine how municipalities asymmetrically respond to multi-tiered rate changes. Published in Fiscal Studies: The Journal of Applied Public Economics.

“By growing the use of the RMB in cross-border trade settlement directly between China and Russia, U.S. financial sanctions cut targeted actors off from using the dollar system, which forces targets into alternative currencies that are exchanged outside of the U.S. financial system,” says Daniel McDowell, professor of political science.

Using confidential trade data, Ryan Monarch and co-authors show primary drivers of the decline in U.S. imports of tariffed goods were firm exits, discontinued buyer-supplier relationships, and reduced importing entry. Published in Economics Letters.

Ryan Monarch, assistant professor of economics, says imported products are going to go up a bit in price. “Whether we’re talking about furniture from China, or we’re talking about bananas from Colombia, or whatever, dollar movements are going to make those things more expensive in the medium run,” he says.

“The cost to the private sector is quite high,” says Kristen Patel, professor of practice of policy studies. “Former President Trump has not coherently explained how tariffs would benefit us, companies and consumers.” Daniel McDowell, professor of political science, says, “The idea of using tariffs to deter countries from invading other countries, it’s pretty out there.”

Devashish Mitra, Gerald B. and Daphna Cramer Professor of Global Affairs, says India Prime Minister Narendra Modi hasn't been able to live up to his jobs promises due to stagnating exports, the slow implementation of labor reforms and insufficient education and training for new workers. 

“Fiscal Implications of Disasters and the Managed Retreat Thereafter: Evidence from Hurricane Sandy,” co-authored by Yilin Hou, professor of public administration and international affairs, was published in Natural Hazards Review.

“Pilots rely on a dashboard of instruments to tell them where they are, where they are going and how they are going to get there. Financial managers have their own cockpit with a dashboard of financial instruments. If they are working, they guide the manager to keep the government going in the direction set by the budget,” writes Minch Lewis, adjunct professor of public administration and international affairs.

“Inventories, Input Costs, and Productivity Gains From Trade Liberalizations,” co-authored by Assistant Professor of Economics Shafaat Yar Khan, was published in the International Economic Review.