Austerity measures in Europe have been the topic of a heated and mostly confused debate in the economic world. During the May summit of the leading industrial nations at Camp David, German chancellor Angela Merkel and other European leaders pushed for continued European austerity. Keynesian critics argue that these policies destroy economic growth.

This book by Alan Viard and Robert Carroll proposes to completely replace the income tax system with a progressive consumption tax.

At this event, Alan Viard will present the X tax proposal while James Mackie of the U.S. Department of the Treasury and Chris Edwards of the Cato Institute will offer commentary.

Just when it looked like the job market was going to rebound, recent unemployment numbers revealed a disappointing reality.

Breaking windows will stimulate the economy, according to a leading public pension advocacy group. Skeptical? The National Institute on Retirement Security (NIRS) has not literally endorsed breaking windows, but a report recently published by the organization relies on the same economic fallacy.According to NIRS-whose membership consists principally of...

"Given the disappointing March numbers, it is unlikely that this month's report will show a huge improvement. It is likely that the economy will add 120,000-140,000 jobs--small numbers that suggest protracted periods of sluggish growth still lie ahead of us." Aparna Mathur, AEI