News – Page 8 – Matrix Global Advisors

Nov92017

Relax, the Housing Market will be Fine After Tax Reform

November 9, 2017Filed Under: Op-Eds

The prospect of major tax reform that broadens the tax base and lowers tax rates has the residential housing industry in panic mode. The National Association of Realtors recently called the House tax bill “an outright assault on homeownership in America.” Separately, a study commissioned by the Realtors warns that comprehensive tax reform would result in an average drop in home values of 10%. But the reality is that the housing market will be fine if the House Republican tax plan is enacted.

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Nov72017

A Letter to the FDA Regarding iQOS, a Less Harmful Alternative to Cigarettes

November 7, 2017Filed Under: Testimony

We are scholars at the American Enterprise Institute, a nonpartisan, nonprofit policy research entity. Dr. Satel is a practicing psychiatrist who has studied and researched a broad range of matters related to mental health policy and addiction, including tobacco harm reduction. Mr. Brill is an expert in public finance and health economics, with a concentration in the economic and public health implications of smoking and its alternatives. The views expressed here are ours alone and may or may not reflect the views of our colleagues.

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Oct262017

MGA’s Alex Brill Serves as a Panelist for Cato Institute’s Capitol Hill Briefing on “Home Stretch for Major Tax Reform?”

October 26, 2017Filed Under: Events

While speaking as a panelist, Alex Brill says, “we can have a tax reform that is net positive for the overall economy. With a better system, one different from the system we have today, the size of the US economy will be larger than it otherwise would be. It will take time from the day of enactment to the day that that effect is fully realized. And during that period of time, the economy will grow faster and then it will reach this new higher level that it otherwise wouldn’t reach and we will all be better off as a result of that.”

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Oct202017

What the Conservative Economist Alex Brill Told Penn Students About Tax Reform this Week

October 20, 2017Filed Under: News

“[Alex] Brill explained that it might be the right moment for tax reform. He expected a bipartisan bill to emerge early next year to serve as the latest in a cycle of tax policies that should help stimulate the US economy, but added that he isn’t holding his breath. “It’s been 31 years since lawmakers did something called tax reform,” Brill said.”

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Oct162017

MGA’s Study for Generic Pharmaceutical Association is Referenced on USA Today

October 16, 2017Filed Under: Analysis

“As the result of this infuriating tactic, patients, insurance companies and the federal government pay an additional $5.4 billion annually on drugs, according to a study by Matrix Global Advisors for the Generic Pharmaceutical Association.”

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Oct92017

Most Prevalent Deduction is for Taxes Paid, IRS Data Show

October 9, 2017Filed Under: Interviews

“Alex Brill of the American Enterprise Institute told Tax Analysts that his estimates show that repealing the state and local tax deduction would raise about $1.4 trillion over a decade and could pay for a large reduction in statutory tax rates. “Being the single largest itemized deduction, its repeal can foster significant simplification, as without it more taxpayers will claim the standard deduction,” Brill said.”

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Oct92017

MGA’s Alex Brill on CNBC’s Squawk Box

October 9, 2017Filed Under: Interviews

Discussing the SALT deduction, Alex Brill says:

“That actually is part of the definition of tax reform as it is eliminating and changing the winners and losers arrangement and creating a level playing field…. So, my sense is in those congressional districts, the Republican districts in the blue states where this is going to hurt a little bit more, there are other things in this plan that are going to be good for their constituents overall. We are going to see lower tax rates. We are going to see a larger standard deduction. So we are going to see a lot of people in the middle class better off.”

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Oct62017

Congress Wants to Eliminate the State and Local Tax Deduction. What’s That?

October 6, 2017Filed Under: News

“Writing in The Hill, Alex Brill of the conservative American Enterprise Institute estimated that repealing the deduction could help subsidize major parts of the tax plan, including the proposed tax cut for top filers and the expansion of the standard deduction. As Brill wrote, that could mean a cap on how much of a filer’s income could be eligible for the deduction.”

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Oct62017

Beware These Misleading Arguments Against an Internet Sales Tax

October 6, 2017Filed Under: Op-Eds

On a bipartisan and bicameral basis, lawmakers have proposed legislation to allow (not require) states to collect sales tax on goods purchased from out-of-state sellers. The legislation is not a new tax but rather facilitates the collection of taxes already due.

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Oct52017

Why it Makes Sense that State and Local Taxes are Deductible

October 5, 2017Filed Under: News

On the other hand, the SALT deduction incentivizes higher state and local spending and doesn’t have the great distributional implications, as my colleague Alex Brill carefully explains here. I could probably go either way on this one.

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