In a just published piece, AEI economist and tax expert Alan Viard warns that the 2011 payroll tax holiday, which shaves 2 % points off workers’ Social Security tax rates, undermines historical practices and distorts federal budget priorities as it diverts $130 billion from the general treasury into the Social Security trust fund.

There's no question but that a Greece should be "allowed" to default.

The European Union (EU) has announced plans to levy a tax on airline emissions for all planes landing and taking off from EU airports. This tax would be calculated not only based on mileage flown in EU airspace but also for the entire length of the flight (thus, Chinese and Japanese airlines would be taxed for an entire journey from Beijing or Tokyo).

A variety of schemes combined steal as much as $100 billion a year from Medicare and Medicaid alone, and it is time to stop that epidemic.

Baghdad is all atwitter over the P-5+1 talks with Iran beginning today. A sandstorm kept many European and Western diplomats from landing, but the Iranians were out in full force, with Iranian negotiator Saeed Jalili leading the way.

We are not in a cold war with China. That is too simple a metaphor to describe the state of Sino-American relations.

Recent economic research suggests that colleges siphon off a significant portion of federal education aid rather than lowering costs to students

We must enable more patients in wealthy countries to obtain transplants at home by empowering their governments, under strict regulation, to offer incentives to prospective donors.