Review

In the U.S., land and improvements to that land (e.g., buildings) are generally taxed at the same rate. This article describes historic and current arguments for two-rate (or split-rate) taxation, which taxes land at a higher rate than structures. In theory, two-rate taxation reduces deadweight losses associated with distortionary taxation and generates additional economic activity.

This article looks at a sample of 230 U.S. industries between 1983 and 2002 to see how a worker's education level and on-the-job use of "skill-based" technology (i.e., computers) relates to wages. 

With daily measures of the real interest rate and expected inflation from commodity futures prices and the term structure of Treasury yields, the authors find commodity futures markets respond to surprise increases in the federal funds rate target by raising the inflation rate expected over the next 3 to 9 months (though no evidence is found that the real interest rate responds to surprises in the federal funds target). 

This article explains implied volatility (IV) and how it can differ from the market's true expectation of uncertainty. It also estimates IV of 3-month eurodollar interest rates from 1985 to 2001 and evaluates its ability to predict realized volatility.