Our Tax Dollars at Work

Size Anomalies in US Bank Stock Returns: Your Tax Dollars at Work?

Over the last four decades, the average Gaussian-risk-adjusted return on a stock portfolio that goes long in the largest banks and short in the smallest banks is minus 7 %. Moreover, this portfolio provides US investors with insurance against recessions, even though the cash flows of large banks seem more exposed to macroeconomic risk. Using the rare events model of ?, we interpret the 7% as a ...

Your tax dollars at work! or the APPLES trial bears fruit.

Will a Fat Tax Work? Will a Fat Tax Work?

BACKGROUND Of the many proposals to counter the obesity epidemic, the most contentious is the use of the “fat tax”. Previous investigations of the efficacy of price-based initiatives in altering consumption behavior have yielded contradictory findings. METHODS We use six years of milk sales data from 1,500 stores to investigate whether price incentives induce substitution to healthier alternati...

Our academy, our mission, our work!

This publication finds me at the half-way point of my tenure as president of the American Academy of Pain Medicine. It is therefore timely to review our academy’s goals and progress, reflecting upon and inspecting our work together as a committed and talented group of management team members and volunteer leaders. To share highlights of the year-to-date, I have created a “virtual interview,” po...

Political Commentary Your Tax Reais at Work -- for Them

Brazil’s economy continues the expansion that began in the last quarter of 1999. The Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics has reported that GDP, relative to 1999, grew 3.08% during the first quarter. The industrial sector was especially strong. Led by autos and capital goods products, the sector’s output jumped some 8%. Moreover, automobile production in May reached 150,000 units, th...