Third Quarter 1998
Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas

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Income Taxes as Reciprocal Tariffs
W. Michael Cox, David M. Gould, and Roy J. Ruffin

This article shows the equivalence between tariffs on international trade and income taxation. Traditionally, income taxes have been seen as lowering society’s output through the household’s labor–leisure trade-off. Income taxes also reduce the degree to which individuals specialize in market activity, which is similar to the way countries respond to tariffs in international trade. Income taxes discourage individuals from specializing in activities that reflect their comparative advantage. In so doing, income taxes may have their most distorting effects, not by encouraging individuals to work less but by causing them to spend more time working at endeavors for which their talent is limited.

Using a general model of interpersonal exchange, the authors demonstrate parallels between income taxes and tariffs. Over a range of income taxes, raising taxes can benefit large groups of similarly skilled individuals and hurt small groups. As in tariff theory, the costs of income taxes are small only if they succeed in raising revenue. Thus, it is very costly for an economy to be on the downward portion of its tax revenue (Laffer) curve. The more heterogeneous the society, the higher the income tax rate that will maximize tax revenues. By overlooking the effects of heterogeneity in the workforce and the potential for workers to flee to home production, policymakers may under- or overestimate the effects of income taxes on various sectors of the economy and tax with unintended consequences.

Seigniorage Revenue and Monetary Policy: Some Preliminary Evidence
Joseph H. Haslag

Producing new money is inexpensive, making seigniorage—the revenues earned from creating new money—attractive. However, the social costs of faster money creation most likely are greater than the production costs. These marginal social costs may put limits on how much real seigniorage revenue the government can earn. In this article, Joseph Haslag looks across countries to assess the typical reliance on seigniorage revenue. In addition, Haslag determines whether countries with combinations of high rates of money growth and high reserve requirements tend to rely especially heavily on seigniorage revenue.

The Economics of the Private Equity Market
Stephen D. Prowse

The private equity market is an important source of funds for start-ups, private middle-market companies, firms in financial distress, and public firms seeking buyout financing. Over the past fifteen years, it has been the fastest growing corporate finance market, far surpassing the public equity and public and private bond markets. In this article, Stephen Prowse examines the economic foundations of the private equity market and describes its institutional structure. He also explores reasons for the market’s explosive growth and highlights the main characteristics of that growth, including data on returns to private equity investors. He describes the important investors, intermediaries, and issuers in the market and their interactions with each other. In particular, he investigates how the major intermediary in the market—the limited partnership—addresses the severe information problems associated with investing in small private firms.