On this day in 1985 the Bank of Israel Law was amended: "The Bank shall not give the government a loan to finance its expenditures." The amendment was forced by US special envoys Herbert Stein (former chairman of @WhiteHouseCEA), and a young Prof. Stanley Fischer. Thanks 🇺🇸 !

Way back when OLS was top

TCJA's under-the-rader place-based policy known as Opportunity Zones is up for renewal. Kevin Corinth and I weigh in how the legislation should be fixed. nytimes.com/2025/06/04/opi…

I think I finally understand general relativity.

Latest in The Jerusalem Strategic Tribune: Naomi Feldman describes an improving Israeli economy, with major risks still ahead in 2025. jstribune.com/feldman-israel…

Permanent? How are we going to write papers if things aren't randomly turning on and off?

Just going to reup this in light of "The bill also makes investments in tax-deferred “Opportunity Zones” for real-estate developments a permanent part of the tax code"

ילדים הם אושר לא עושר. nber.org/system/files/w….

Opportunity Zones for the win. “Somebody who’s planning an exit, selling a family business, it’s a good opportunity to shelter your gains, and they’ve made it even more enticing.” I seem to recall JCT scoring this at $6b in 2017. Now we are at $41b. wsj.com/personal-finan…

I promise there is a tax angle at about 4:25. "Pecunia non olet" or "money does not stink" youtube.com/watch?v=6LYXLn…

Early morning in Ueno Park, Tokyo

We meet again, mon amour. Another year, another visit.

Ottoman era stamp duties

David Ben Gurion's tax return, 1948-49. Simpler (tax) times. 1.5 pages. Profession: Prime Minister.

Lemonade stand. Revenue: 55 NIS Input costs (ex labor, post negotiation): 25 NIS R&D subsidy (a.k.a. mama bonus): 5 NIS Profit: 35 NIS!! (~$10)

Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose. In looking up an article in the National Tax Journal, I got sidetracked by the fact that they post articles back to 1916. 70 years ago we were debating the incidence of the corporate tax and we still are today. journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/NT…

Join us for an NTA webinar celebrating the work of Joel Slemrod upon the occasion of his retirement from the University of Michigan. September 24, 2-3 EST. ntanet.org/2025/08/ntj-fo…

Oh, I'm sorry, did I not pay all my taxes? But were there fines? timesofisrael.com/biblical-tax-n…