William F. Shughart II is a Senior Fellow at the Independent Institute, the J. Fish Smith Professor in Public Choice at Utah State University, past President of the Southern Economic Association, and editor of the Independent book, Taxing Choice.
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Posts by William F. Shughart II
William F. Shughart II •
Thursday June 13, 2019 at 2:18 PM PST
Selective excise taxes may raise revenue for the public sector by targeting the consumption of things that elites disdain, but they do not save millions of lives.
William F. Shughart II •
Monday April 22, 2019 at 1:10 PM PST
Policymakers need to re-evaluate the effectiveness of controlled burning for managing future forest fires.
William F. Shughart II •
Friday November 9, 2018 at 10:27 AM PST
E15 may buy votes in Iowa but does so at a serious cost.
William F. Shughart II •
Wednesday October 10, 2018 at 9:30 AM PST
If ethanol truly were a good substitute for gasoline, no mandate would be necessary.
William F. Shughart II •
Monday August 13, 2018 at 12:00 PM PST
Trump’s legislation will offset the regulatory barriers but will likely incite retaliation from our trading partners.
William F. Shughart II •
Friday May 4, 2018 at 9:00 AM PST
If you wonder why prices at the gas pump have been climbing recently and are expected to continue to climb, look no further than the sharp drop in crude oil production in Venezuela, the Saudi Arabia of the Americas.
William F. Shughart II •
Thursday April 26, 2018 at 9:00 AM PST
The world is still a long way from a future of zero carbon emissions, but that goal can be achieved sooner if nuclear energy plays a much larger role in generating electricity.
William F. Shughart II •
Thursday December 7, 2017 at 1:18 PM PST
As 2017 was rushing to its end, the U.S. House and Senate passed different versions of income tax reform legislation, one of the Trump Administration’s top policy priorities. If a reconciled bill emerges from conference committee and is approved by majorities in both chambers of Congress before year’s end, the legislative effort would fulfill...
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William F. Shughart II •
Tuesday October 17, 2017 at 1:23 PM PST
I first met Fred S. McChesney (1948–2017) at the Federal Trade Commission in the early 1980s. Ronald Reagan had just been elected to the presidency and had appointed James C. Miller III as the FTC’s chairman. Robert D. Tollison had been confirmed as the Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Economics. I am not...
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William F. Shughart II •
Friday October 13, 2017 at 4:16 PM PST
On Wednesday, the commissioners of Cook County, Illinois, repealed the controversial soda tax that went into effect in August of this year. December 1, 2017, will be the first day residents of Cook County will no longer be required to pay a one-cent-per-ounce tax on sugar sweetened beverages—and they’re better off without it. Although...
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