The Economic Cost and Spatial Diffusion of the Opioid Crisis, 2009–18

The Economic Cost and Spatial Diffusion of the Opioid Crisis, 2009–18

Recent data show a small decline in opioid-related mortality following a decade during which opioid-related mortality more than doubled to nearly 53,000 in 2018. However, the aggregate statistics mask important spatial and temporal trends in the data. This report estimates nationwide, regional, and county-level economic costs associated with the opioid crisis.

Progressivity, Redistribution, and Inequality

Progressivity, Redistribution, and Inequality

Last October, a new controversy erupted over the progressivity of the American tax system. The brouhaha was prompted by a new book, The Triumph of Injustice, by economists Emmanuel Saez and Gabriel Zucman. In it, the authors claim that the highest-earning Americans’ tax rate has fallen below everyone else’s.