The typical person in the bottom 5 percent of the American income distribution is still richer than 68 percent of the world’s inhabitants. But  India’s poorest ventile corresponds with the 4th poorest percentile worldwide. And its richest? The 68th percentile. Yes, that’s right: America’s poorest are, as a group, about as rich as India’s richest.

Many economists say that people are willing to sacrifice some disposable income in order to be honest taxpayers; others say that fear of penalties is the overwhelming motivation for tax payments.

Overall, it is neglected knowledge just how much the “Green Revolution” has slowed down since the 1990s. Robert Paarlberg’s Starved for Science: How Biotechnology Is Being Kept Out of Africa is an excellent book on its title topic.

In another educational milestone for women, they now hold more advanced degrees (Master's, Professional [medical, law and dental] and Doctoral) than men for the first time in history.

The budget vise squeezing states and cities is changing the economic-development game. Governments are attaching more strings to their offers of tax breaks, cheap rents and bond deals designed to lure business, and are getting tougher on past recipients who didn't come through. Officials fret that taxpayers will look askance on any giveaways to business that don't yield a clear benefit, at a time when governments are... More

In 1950 there were 7.2 people aged 20-64 for every person of 65 and more in the OECD. By 1980 the ratio had dropped to 5.1. Now it is around 4.1, and by 2050 it will be just 2.1. In short, every couple will be supporting a pensioner.

South Dakota has no income-based taxes, capital gains taxes or corporate income taxes, which is why it should come as no surprise that it was ranked as this year's best tax environment for small business owners, according to the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council’s Business Tax Index for 2011.

The Labor Department has put together a report on employer-sponsored health insurance coverage that shows what benefits are typically covered by these plans.

Efforts to tax the rich tend to run into two main problems. The first is that higher tax rates reduce the incentives to supply additional labor or capital. Second, rich people respond to tax increases by shifting income out of taxable form.

By every possible measure (ratio of high:low salary, Gini coefficient, and shares of total payroll going to the  top 10%, 20% and 50% of players) income inequality has increased significantly for the baseball players employed by the New York Yankees between 1988 and 2011.

Examining the circulation data the New York Times has published in its annual reports since 1993, we've discovered that the New York Times appears to be systematically abandoning its presence in the 31 counties in the New York City metropolitan area that make up its traditional home market in favor of expanding nationally and on the Internet.

The alternative minimum tax can create large marriage penalties for high-income couples, reversing bonuses in the regular income tax. That situation results in large part from setting the AMT exemption, phaseouts, and tax brackets for couples to less than twice those for single filers.

How well run are America’s fifty states? 24/7 Wall St. has taken several months to consider that question. Our writers looked at hundreds of data sets ranging from debt rating agency reports to violent crime rates, unemployment trends and median income.

The number of medical school graduates has been flat for 30 years, while the U.S. population has increased by 37.4% from 226.45 million in 1980 to 311.256 million today.  As more physicians abandon high-volume, paperwork-intensive practices for low-volume concierge practices, and as more Americans are soon forced into Obamacare, where will the doctors come from?

China is fairly modest compared to big domestic holders.

Tax day is coming! And what better way to mark the upcoming day income taxes are due than by providing another form for you to fill out to see how much you would have been taxed in 1913!

This morning’s CPI report show that the price of wireless phone service is falling at an accelerating pace. That suggests the communications sector is becoming more and more important as a driving force for growth.

Austin is the U.S. market that is most conducive to the creation and development of small businesses. Oklahoma City is second in the current standings, followed by Charleston, S.C., Charlotte and Seattle.

From television and print advertisements, one might form the impression that the United States has experienced substantial growth in renewable energy sources, especially wind and solar power.

The economic value of a good teacher grows with larger classes, and the cost to students of an ineffective teacher are substantial, too.

The good news is we are experiencing record-high worker productivity and  resulting record-high real corporate profits per private sector worker.  The bad news is that these trends might translate into a record-length "jobless recovery."

A federal income tax was imposed on several occasions in the 1800s. However, in response to a court case which determined that income from property was required to be imposed in proportion to states’ population, Congress proposed the Sixteenth Amendment. Thus in 1913, the modern income tax system was born.

Of the 25 countries polled, support for the free market is now greatest in Germany, just ahead of Brazil and communist China, both of which have seen strong growth in recent years.

The federal government incurred a budget deficit of $830 billion in the first six months of fiscal year 2011, CBO estimates—$113 billion more than the shortfall recorded in the same period last year.

With so many politicians focused on controlling the costs of Medicare, we thought it might be time to review what the most popular medical procedures paid for by U.S. taxpayer dollars actually are.

As a direct consequence of our trade deficit, foreigners have invested almost $3.5 trillion directly into the U.S. economy since 1960 in American companies, with about half of that investment occurring in the last decade. 

This chart tracks the number of taxpayers subject to taxation under the AMT since it was first enacted. Last tax season 4.5 million taxpayers were affected by the alternative minimum tax, an increase of more than 4 million taxpayers since 1970.

A new paper from the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland tracks various measures of entrepreneurship over the last few years. It found that the number of businesses with employees — one indicator of entrepreneurial activity, like self-employment— took a nosedive.