Purchasing power

About: Purchasing power is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 2714 publications have been published within this topic receiving 36866 citations. The topic is also known as: adjusted for inflation.

Replacing the Income Tax with a Progressive Consumption Tax

Abstract: Shifting from an income tax to a consumption tax would offer major simplification advantages. Even if Congress created as many preferences and other special rules to what it has under the existing income tax, the massive set of complications that relate to realization and to the taxation of financial transactions would largely be eliminated. The main (though not the only possible) reason for opposing such a shift is the concern that it would require reducing progressivity. However, the capacity of a consumption tax to achieve progressivity comparable to that of an income tax is widely misunderstood, for two main reasons. First, a consumption tax purportedly exempts "capital income," seemingly raising the specter of its exempting the likes of Bill Gates and Warrant Buffett. As recent tax policy literature has shown, however, the only difference in theory between an income tax and a consumption tax pertains to the risk-free return to waiting, which historically has averaged less than one percent per year. The point made by this literature is by now familiar and well-accepted in some circles, but in others it remains unfamiliar or has been unduly dismissed. This article aims to win it wider acceptance. Second, many believe that wealthy people escape the burden of a consumption tax by deferring their consumption, and that advocates of such a tax ignore the effects of unconsumed wealth on one's security, political power, and social standing. The argument overlooks the fact that what makes wealth valuable is the real purchasing power that it commands. Otherwise, real money would be no different than Monopoly money. A consumption tax affects the purchasing power even of unspent wealth, and the burden it imposes generally is not reduced by deferring one's consumption. The article also discusses the choice between use of the origin basis and the destination basis in taxing cross-border transactions. A consumption tax can use either method, but an income tax is practically compelled to use the origin basis. Use of the destination basis would eliminate transfer pricing issues, although in their place it would create various problems that an origin basis tax avoids, such as the need for border adjustments (e.g., tax rebates for exports). Thoughtful consideration of the choice between the origin and destination basis upon shifting to a consumption tax requires dismissing a popular canard, which is that the destination basis, because it exempts exports, offers an "export subsidy" that would favor countries using it in international trade competition. Economists universally agree that well-functioning origin and destination basis systems have equivalent incentive effects on international trade once in place. This suggests that a destination basis consumption tax should neither be favored politically as a tool of trade war, nor subject to successful legal challenge under the GATT.

On the Relevance of Price-Level Accounting

Abstract: Accountants have long been frustrated by the inability of the conventional accounting model to cope with changes in prices over time in what they deem to be a satisfactory way. Numerous suggestions have been made for dealing with this problem. Some involve a revision of the formal accounting model itself; other suggestions have been limited to finding means for providing information in supplementary form outside the formal model. In discussing this problem, a distinction is usually made between ways of accounting for price changes involving the specific assets held by the entity in question, and changes in aggregate prices which tend to alter the purchasing power of the monetary unit in which the accounting measurements are expressed. It seems to be generally recognized that while accounting for changes in specific prices and accounting for changes in the general price level are not independent, they are logically separable.' For this reason, we are justified in considering the price-level problem by itself, as is done in this paper. The problem is to account for the changes in the "general" price level between points in time, a change that is viewed as the direct inverse of the change in the purchasing power of the monetary unit. The measurement of this change is almost universally considered accomplishable by use of a weighted average of representative prices.2 Conceptually, the choice of weights and commodities to be included in the index presents an insurmountable problem since most individuals and firms do not usually mix

Debt Laffer Curve for South Asian Countries

Abstract: The inflow of foreign capital is generally seen as an accelerating force to economic growth, due to provision of additional resources, and these funds are considered complementary to local savings. It could also help to transfer technology and, therefore, increase productivity. Besides it enhances purchasing power of the recipients [Mullick (1988)] and as a result stimulates growth. The purpose of foreign debt is to increase real transfer of resources from the developed countries to the developing countries, so that these countries could pick up momentum of economic growth and as a result improve their welfare.1 The rapid increase in the external debt obligations of the developing countries, during the 1970s, had given rise to concerns about the dangers of increasing trend in interest and amortisation payments and, therefore, this situation posed a threat to debtor countries. The foreign debt of the developing countries has become a threat to their economic growth. The debt servicing of some of the LDC’s exceeded to their growth rates.2 Initially, most analysts believed that debt servicing problem would be temporary. It was hoped that creditworthiness and more normal growth of most of the countries would be restored with the influx of foreign resources. However, the debt crises have demonstrated that this assessment was optimistic and seemed never to be realised.3

Stablecoins: A Brave New World?

Abstract: At the root of the notion of stablecoin (SC) lies a desire to reconcile two different worlds: that of legal currency, whose essential attributes are hierarchical order, the vocation to uniqueness and stability of the purchasing power, and that of crypto-assets, featuring decentralization, multiplicity and thus the possibility of choice, and the instability of value. Do SCs fulfill their promises? With regard to their volatile prices, limited number, small total amount, and concentrated market, SCs have so far met with a mixed success. They rather represent a complement to the crypto-assets market. However, the arrival of very large issuers, securing a higher degree of confidence to users, and apt to reach a wide public, could give their projects a potentially systemic impact. These global SCs would create risks, in particular for financial stability and monetary policy, and in lesser-developed economies. This paper reviews these risks and the way the private sector, regulators and central banks can address them.