New England migration trends

Recent studies and reports have called attention to the issue of population migration patterns in New England. To provide more targeted and regional data on this issue, NEPPC has developed a series of findings and maps that, for the first time, present a comprehensive, county-by-county portrait of New England population movements. The maps were constructed using data from the Internal Revenue Service, which annually tracks changes in the number of tax exemptions at the county level.Migration, Internal - New England ; New England - Population

Communicating over Filter-and-Forward Relay Networks with Channel Output Feedback

Relay networks aid in increasing the rate of communication from source to destination. However, the capacity of even a three-terminal relay channel is an open problem. In this work, we propose a new lower bound for the capacity of the three-terminal relay channel with destination-to-source feedback in the presence of correlated noise. Our lower bound improves on the existing bounds in the literature. We then extend our lower bound to general relay network configurations using an arbitrary number of filter-and-forward relay nodes. Such network configurations are common in many multi-hop communication systems where the intermediate nodes can only perform minimal processing due to limited computational power. Simulation results show that significant improvements in the achievable rate can be obtained through our approach. We next derive a coding strategy (optimized using post processed signal-to-noise ratio as a criterion) for the three-terminal relay channel with noisy channel output feedback for two transmissions. This coding scheme can be used in conjunction with open-loop codes for applications like automatic repeat request (ARQ) or hybrid-ARQ.Comment: 15 pages, 8 figures, to appear in IEEE Transactions on Signal Processin

Inflation with TeV-scale gravity

Allowing for the possibility of large extra dimensions, the fundamental Planck scale $M$ could be anywhere in the range \TeV\lsim M\lsim \mpl, where \mpl=2.4\times 10^{18}\GeV is the four-dimensional Planck scale. If M\sim\TeV, quantum corrections would not destabilize the Higgs mass even if there were no supersymmetry. But we point out that supersymmetry must in fact be present, if there is an era of cosmological inflation, since during such an era the inflaton mass satisfies m\ll M^2/\mpl=10^{-15}(M/\TeV) and supersymmetry will be needed to protect it. If the inflation hypothesis is accepted, there is no reason to think that Nature has chosen the low value M\sim \TeV, however convenient that choice might have been for the next generation of collider experiments.Comment: 6 pages, to appear in PLB. v3 has Same conclusion stated more precisel

Using Channel Output Feedback to Increase Throughput in Hybrid-ARQ

Hybrid-ARQ protocols have become common in many packet transmission systems due to their incorporation in various standards. Hybrid-ARQ combines the normal automatic repeat request (ARQ) method with error correction codes to increase reliability and throughput. In this paper, we look at improving upon this performance using feedback information from the receiver, in particular, using a powerful forward error correction (FEC) code in conjunction with a proposed linear feedback code for the Rayleigh block fading channels. The new hybrid-ARQ scheme is initially developed for full received packet feedback in a point-to-point link. It is then extended to various different multiple-antenna scenarios (MISO/MIMO) with varying amounts of packet feedback information. Simulations illustrate gains in throughput.Comment: 30 page

Rock 'n' Roll Solutions to the Hubble Tension

Local measurements of the Hubble parameter are increasingly in tension with the value inferred from a $\Lambda$CDM fit to the cosmic microwave background (CMB) data. In this paper, we construct scenarios in which evolving scalar fields significantly ease this tension by adding energy to the Universe around recombination in a narrow redshift window. We identify solutions of $V \propto \phi^{2 n}$ with simple asymptotic behavior, both oscillatory (rocking) and rolling. These are the first solutions of this kind in which the field evolution and fluctuations are consistently implemented using the equations of motion. Our findings differ qualitatively from those of the existing literature, which rely upon a coarse-grained fluid description. Combining CMB data with low-redshift measurements, the best fit model has $n=2$ and increases the allowed value of $H_0$ from 69.2 km/s/Mpc in $\Lambda$CDM to 72.3 km/s/Mpc at $2\sigma$. Future measurements of the late-time amplitude of matter fluctuations and of the reionization history could help distinguish these models from competing solutions.Comment: 19 pages, 9 figures + appendi

Local sales taxes can reduce the differences between taxes at state borders

Local sales taxes are an important source of revenue for municipalities and counties in over thirty states. How do municipalities set local sales taxes? Studying the sales tax differentials between high and low sales tax states, David R. Agrawal finds that local jurisdictions in low-tax states set higher local sales tax rates than jurisdictions on the other side of the border in the high-tax state. In addition, jurisdictions far inside low-tax states set lower tax rates compared to border towns

The Tax Gradient: Spatial Aspects of Fiscal Competition

State borders create a discontinuous tax treatment of retail sales. In a Nash game, local tax rates will be higher on the low-state-tax side of a border. Local taxes will decrease from the nearest high-tax border and increase from the low-tax border. Using driving time from state borders and all local sales tax rates, local tax rates on the low-tax side of the border are 1.25 percentage points higher, reducing the differential in state tax rates by over three-quarters. A ten minute increase in driving time from the nearest high-tax state lowers a border town’s local tax rate by 6%

Fiscal Decentralisation and Mobility: Evidence from Spain's Income Tax System

In recent decades, many countries around the world have become more fiscally decentralised. Spain provides a unique case study given it has relatively quickly transitioned from a highly centralised country to a much more decentralised country, although formally not a federation. As part of this decentralisation, autonomy over individual income tax rates and brackets was recently granted to the regions (Autonomous Communities), which are similar to states or provinces in other countries. In the early 2000s, individual income tax brackets and rates were the purview of the central government. Only recently were the Spanish regions granted the authority to levy their own individual income tax rates on a portion of the personal income tax base. Once granted this authority, marginal tax rates diverged substantially at the top of the income distribution, resulting in substantial tax differentials across various regions within Spain. This article reviews the economic consequences of Spanish fiscal decentralisation with a particular focus on the impact on the mobility of high-income individuals and the implications of migration decisions for public finances

Fiscal Decentralisation and Mobility: Evidence from Spain's Income Tax System

In recent decades, many countries around the world have become more fiscally decentralised. Spain provides a unique case study given it has relatively quickly transitioned from a highly centralised country to a much more decentralised country, although formally not a federation. As part of this decentralisation, autonomy over individual income tax rates and brackets was recently granted to the regions (Autonomous Communities), which are similar to states or provinces in other countries. In the early 2000s, individual income tax brackets and rates were the purview of the central government. Only recently were the Spanish regions granted the authority to levy their own individual income tax rates on a portion of the personal income tax base. Once granted this authority, marginal tax rates diverged substantially at the top of the income distribution, resulting in substantial tax differentials across various regions within Spain. This article reviews the economic consequences of Spanish fiscal decentralisation with a particular focus on the impact on the mobility of high-income individuals and the implications of migration decisions for public finances