Research Library
Economic Memos Research Library
This page provides access to research papers and policy memoranda written for Economic Memos.
Titles and summaries are available publicly. Full papers are available to paid subscribers.
The research focuses on the interaction between public policy and household financial behavior, including health insurance markets, student loan repayment systems, tax incentives, and labor market participation.
Research Papers
Implicit Tax Rates and Marriage
Feb 17, 2026 | 11 pages
This paper examines how the interaction between Affordable Care Act premium subsidies and income-driven student loan repayment formulas can create steep implicit marginal tax rates when household incomes are combined. These policy structures can alter incentives surrounding marriage and childbearing by creating large changes in effective tax burdens when two individuals form a household.
Liquidity Today, Tax Traps Tomorrow: AGI-Linked Programs, Pre-Tax Saving, and the Erosion of Flexibility in Retirement
Jan 20, 2026 | 15 pages
This paper explores how several major policy systems tied to adjusted gross income—including ACA subsidies, student loan repayment formulas, and retirement tax rules—interact to influence household financial decisions. In many cases, households may rationally favor pre-tax retirement saving because it reduces near-term income used in program formulas, even when Roth saving could provide greater long-term flexibility.
Allocating Health Risk in the ACA: Premiums, Reinsurance, and the Limits of Income-Linked Subsidies
Jan 19, 2026 | 22 pages
This paper analyzes how health risk is allocated within the Affordable Care Act marketplace system. It examines the roles of premiums, reinsurance programs, and income-linked subsidies, and considers policy alternatives that could stabilize markets while reducing the distortions created by steep subsidy phase-outs.
Impact of the Student-Debt Pause on the Ability of Households to Make Emergency Payments
Sept 27, 2023 | 11 pages
Using survey data collected during the federal student loan payment pause, this paper examines how suspending loan payments affected household financial resilience. The analysis focuses on the share of households able to cover unexpected expenses and compares emergency payment capacity before and during the pause.
Fixing the Affordable Care Act through the Tax Code
Aug 12, 2020 | 15 pages
This paper argues that the tax code’s treatment of employer-provided health insurance creates structural imbalances between employer coverage and insurance purchased through ACA marketplaces. It proposes policy changes designed to equalize incentives and expand coverage options through tax reform.
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