This article is the first part of a two-part examination of the contentious issue of how state governments' provision of goods and services to the public should be taxed under a VAT.

Political dysfunction. Partisanship at record levels. Attack politics run amok. And public approval of Congress scraping the single digits (Sen. John McCain is fond of saying it's down to blood rlatives and paid staff).

The following is a summary highlighting testimony by AEI Director of Economic Policy Studies Kevin Hassett to the Joint Economic Committee at a hearing entitled "How the Taxation of Capital Affects Growth and Employment."

As fiscal stimulus packages unwind, fiscal drag may rise in the United States to a level equivalent to about 1.5 percentage points of GDP early in 2012.

If President Obama is interested in promoting growth now and in the future, he should commit to retaining the low tax rates Congress passed in 2003.

At this AEI event, Bruce Bartlett will discuss his new book, which proposes that a value-added tax is the most effective way to improve the nation's fiscal imbalance.

This volume contradicts the commonly-held belief that, among rich countries, the marginal return from pharmaceutical consumption is negligible.

Consumption taxation offers a better combination of efficiency and equity than alternative tax systems.