Lifting the burden: fundamental tax reform and U.S. economic growth

This paper presents a comprehensive treatment of the cost-of-capital approach for analyzing the economic impact of tax policy. This approach has provided an intellectual impetus for reforms of capital income taxation in the United States and around the world. The most dramatic example is the Tax Reform Act of 1986 in the United States. In this landmark legislation the income tax base was broadened by wholesale elimination of tax preferences for both individuals and corporations. Revenues generated by base broadening were used to finance sharp reductions in tax rates at corporate and individual levels. The cost-of-capital approach presented in this paper shows that important opportunities for tax reform still remain. This approach suggests two avenues for reform. One would retain the income tax base of the existing U.S. tax system, but would equalize tax burdens on all forms of assets as well as average and marginal rates on labor income. Elimination of differences in the tax treatment of all forms of assets would produce gains in efficiency comparable to those from the Tax Reform Act of 1986. Equalization of marginal and average tax rates on labor income would more than double these gains in efficiency. Proposals to replace income by consumption as a tax base were revived in the United States during the 1990's. The Hall-Rabushka Flat Tax proposal would produce efficiency gains comparable to those from equalizing tax burdens on all forms of assets under the income tax. However, a progressive National Retail Sales Tax, collected on personal consumption expenditures at the retail level, would generate gains in efficiency exceeding those from the Flat Tax by more than 50 percent! Equalizing marginal and average rates of taxation on consumption would double the gains from the Flat Tax.

Tax Reform and U.S. Economic Growth

In this paper we evaluate the impact of the Tax Reform Act of 1986 on U.S. economic growth. We first calculate effective tax rates on income from capital employed in corporate, noncorporate, and household sectors. We then project the future growth of the U.S. economy with and without the 1986 tax reform. We find that much of the potential gain in welfare was dissipated through failure to index the income tax base for inflation. The most promising avenue for future reform is to include income from household assets in the tax base, while reducing tax rates on business income.Economic

MAMBO Mapping of Spitzer c2d Small Clouds and Cores

AIMS: To study the structure of nearby (< 500 pc) dense starless and star-forming cores with the particular goal to identify and understand evolutionary trends in core properties, and to explore the nature of Very Low Luminosity Objects (< 0.1 L_sun; VeLLOs). METHODS: Using the MAMBO bolometer array, we create maps unusually sensitive to faint (few mJy per beam) extended (approx. 5 arcmin) thermal dust continuum emission at 1.2 mm wavelength. Complementary information on embedded stars is obtained from Spitzer, IRAS, and 2MASS. RESULTS: Our maps are very rich in structure, and we characterize extended emission features (``subcores'') and compact intensity peaks in our data separately to pay attention to this complexity. We derive, e.g., sizes, masses, and aspect ratios for the subcores, as well as column densities and related properties for the peaks. Combination with archival infrared data then enables the derivation of bolometric luminosities and temperatures, as well as envelope masses, for the young embedded stars. CONCLUSIONS: (abridged) Starless and star-forming cores occupy the same parameter space in many core properties; a picture of dense core evolution in which any dense core begins to actively form stars once it exceeds some fixed limit in, e.g., mass, density, or both, is inconsistent with our data. Comparison of various evolutionary indicators for young stellar objects in our sample (e.g., bolometric temperatures) reveals inconsistencies between some of them, possibly suggesting a revision of some of these indicators.Comment: Accepted to A&A. In total 46 pages, with 20 pages of tables, figures, and appendices. High-resolution version of this article at https://www.xythosondemand.com/home/harvard_iic/Users/jkauffma/Public/mambo_spitzer.pd

The low-mass YSO CB230-A: investigating the protostar and its jet with NIR spectroscopy and Spitzer observations

A jet from the low-mass YSO CB230-A had been discovered in NIR narrow-band images. We aim to investigate the physical properties of the region from where the jet is launched. Our analysis was carried out using low-resolution NIR spectra acquired with the camera NICS at the TNG telescope, with JH and HK grisms and a 1 arcsec-wide slit. These observational data were complemented with infrared photometric data from the Spitzer space telescope archive. The relevant physical properties of CB230-A were constrained by SED fitting of fluxes from the NIR to the mm. The YSO spectrum exhibits a significant number of atomic and molecular emission and absorption features. The characteristics of this spectrum suggest that we are observing a region in the close vicinity of CB230-A, i. e. its photosphere and/or an active accretion disk. The spectra of the knots in the jet contain a large number of emission lines, including a rich set of [FeII] lines. Emission due to H2 and [FeII] are not spatially correlated, confirming that [FeII] and H2 are excited by different mechanisms, in agreement with the models where [FeII] traces dissociative J-shocks and molecular hydrogen traces slower C-shocks. By using intensity ratios involving density-sensitive [FeII] lines, we estimated the electron densities in the jet (6x10^3-1x10^4 cm^-3). This indicates either high density post-shock regions of ionised gas or regions with a high degree of ionisation. By combining the present data with previously obtained maps at NIR- and mm-wavelengths, the emerging scenario is that CB230-A is a Class 0/I YSO driving an atomic jet that is observed to be almost monopolar probably due to its inclination to the plane of the sky and the resulting higher extinction of its red side. This jet appears energetic enough to drive the molecular outflow observed in the mm.Comment: 14 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysic

Primary Cardiac Lymphoma Presenting With Atrioventricular Block

Primary cardiac lymphomas (PCL) are extremely rare. Clinical manifestations may be variable and are attributed to location. Here, we report on a case of PCL presenting with atrioventricular (AV) block. A 55 year-old male had experienced chest discomfort with unexplained dyspnea and night sweating. His initial electrocardiogram (ECG) revealed a first degree AV block. Along with worsening chest discomfort and dyspnea, his ECG changed to show second degree AV block (Mobitz type I). Computed tomography (CT) scan showed a cardiac mass (about 7 cm) and biopsy was performed. Pathologic finding confirmed diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. The patient was treated with multi-drug combination chemotherapy (R-CHOP: Rituximab, cyclophoshamide, anthracycline, vincristine, and prednisone). After treatment, ECG changed to show normal sinus rhythm with complete remission on follow-up CT scan

Descending necrotizing mediastinitis after a trigger point injection

Descending necrotizing mediastinitis (DNM) is a rare form of mediastinal infection. Most cases are associated with esophageal rupture. DNM after a trigger point injection in the upper trapezius has not been described previously. We present a case of DNM after a trigger point injection in the upper trapezius. A 70-year-old man visited the emergency department with chest discomfort and fever after a trigger point injection in the left upper trapezius. Chest computed tomography showed evidence of DNM, and antibiotic therapy was immediately administered intravenously. Because of the risk of sudden death, poor prognosis due to underlying disease, and his age, he declined surgical treatment and died of septic shock. Although trigger point injections are generally considered safe, caution should be used in patients with an underlying disease or in the elderly. Early diagnosis, broad-spectrum antibiotics, and aggressive surgical management are essential to improve the prognosis

Serosurveillance for Japanese encephalitis virus in wild birds captured in Korea

Climate change induced by recent global warming may have a significant impact on vector-borne and zoonotic diseases. For example, the distribution of Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) has expanded into new regions. We surveyed the levels of hemagglutination-inhibition (HI) antibodies against JEV (Family Flaviviridae, genus Flavivirus) in wild birds captured in Korea. Blood samples were collected from 1,316 wild birds including the following migratory birds: Oceanodroma castro (n = 4), Anas formosa (n = 7), Anas penelope (n = 20), Fulica atra (n = 30), Anas acuta (n = 89), Anas crecca (n = 154), Anas platyrhynchos (n = 214), Aix galericulata (n = 310), and Anas poecilorhyncha (n = 488). All were captured in 16 locations in several Korea provinces between April 2007 and December 2009. Out of the 1,316 serum samples tested, 1,141 (86.7%) were positive for JEV. Wild birds captured in 2009 had a higher seroprevalence of ant-JEV antibodies than those captured in 2007. Wild birds with an HI antibody titer of 1 : 1,280 or higher accounted for 21.2% (280/1,316) of the animals tested. These findings indicated that wild birds from the region examined in our study have been exposed to JEV and may pose a high risk for introducing a new JEV genotype into Korea