Law Commons^™

The Origins Of Affirmative Fiscal Action, Mirit Eyal-Cohen

Mirit Eyal-Cohen

This article highlights an anomaly. It shows that two tax rules aimed to achieve a similar goal were introduced at the same time. Both meant to be temporary and bring economic stimuli, but received a dramatically different treatment. The less efficient or economically inferior survived. Its superior counterpart did not. The article reviews the reasons for this paradox. It shows that the reason is both political and an agency problem. The article not only enriches an important and ongoing debate that has received much attention in recent years, but also provides important lessons to policymakers.

Legal Mirrors Of Entrepreneurship, Mirit Eyal-Cohen

Mirit Eyal-Cohen

Small businesses are regarded the engine of the economy. But just what is a “small” business? Depending on where one looks in the law, the definitions vary and they differ from one section to another. Unfortunately, what these various size classifications fail to assess, are the policy considerations and the legislative intent for granting regulatory preferences to small concerns to begin with.

In the last century, the U.S. government has been cultivating one such policy of fiscal and economic growth. Consequently, Congress and private institutions have been acting to incentivize, support and reward entrepreneurship through the law in order to …

Joint Federal Income Tax Returns: If Doma Dies And Even If It Lives The Weak Case For Distinguishing Between Same-Sex And Different-Sex Married Couples, Julie A.D. Manasfi

Julie A.D. Manasfi

Joint Federal Income Tax Returns: If DOMA Dies And Even If It Lives The Weak Case For Distinguishing between Same-Sex and Different-Sex Married Couples State recognition of same-sex marriages and marriage-like statuses raised the question of whether these relationships would be respected for federal purposes. In 1996, the Defense of Marriage Act (“DOMA”) answered the question with a definitive “no.” Section 3 of DOMA defines “marriage” for federal purposes as “a legal union between one man and one woman.” DOMA’s definition of marriage has been found unconstitutional in eight federal courts. In fact in 2011, at the instruction of President …

The Vehicle Miles Tax: The Unintended Consequences Of Paying As You Drive, Gregory A. Lush

Gregory A. Lush

3. A Vehicle Miles Tax Reduces Manufacturer Incentives to Build Electric Vehicles

It follows that if consumers have few incentives to buy electric vehicles, manufacturers will have less of an incentive to make them. If electric cars were not in demand, then why would anyone make them and try to sell them? In a market that is finding electric vehicles to be a tough sell, we need to encourage the sale and production of electric vehicles as much as possible. The effect of enacting a mileage-based tax will be the attrition of automakers producing electric vehicles, furthering the nation’s dependency …