Economist; Professor @UCLA_Law; sr fellow @PIIE; former tax DAS at Treasury; Author, Open: The Progressive Case for Free Trade, Immigration, and Global Capital
LAX; PDX
- Tweets 5,776
- Following 825
- Followers 11,324
- Likes 12,896
Kimberly Clausing retweeted
TOMORROW: Expert panel discussion, plus @SenWhitehouse joins us for a fireside chat with @KClausing on the US debt & deficit outlook, the policy challenges ahead, & the implications of persistent fiscal imbalances.
Watch it here: piie.com/events/2026/grappli…
2
7
1,726
Kimberly Clausing retweeted
Trump’s tariffs are so unpopular that they are being described as huge political vulnerabilities in *MICHIGAN AND OHIO.
NEW — We need to stop the contagion’: GOP ramps up midterms defense in Trump states
Republicans are playing defense deep in their own territory as voter anger over price hikes grows.
Rs are increasingly worried about Husted in Ohio and the wider Midwest amid soaring diesel prices. Trump and Vance both expected to go to Ohio before Election Day.
Tariffs are pummeling Mike Rogers - who just broke with Trump over the Iran war - and GOP candidates in Michigan.
“Everywhere we go, we are getting hammered on it,” one Michigan Republican said. “It’s crushing us.”
Since Aug. 1, more than $110 million in ad bookings have gone toward Republican-held districts so red that Trump won them by double digits.
More w/ @erinpdoherty @jsscppr @andrewjfhoward on the shifting map
politi.co/4AppEDR via @politico
3
14
46
35,743
Kimberly Clausing retweeted
Overall, the poor polling of tax cuts here (One Big Beautiful Bill tax cuts, $5k rebates) and the good polling on health care should make policymakers consider whether they should squander progressive tax revenue (which polls well here!) on middle-class tax cuts or health care.
New @NBCNews national poll: Are you MORE or LESS likely to support a candidate who supports…
…Trump’s tax bill (OBBB)
36% more
42% less
…the war in Iran
24% more
57% less
…Trump’s $5,000 checks idea
21% more
46% less
…giving funding & weapons to Israel
25% more
55% less
3
7
27
4,904
Happy to be a part of this.
These forced labor tariffs make no sense unless understood for what they are: an attempt to take authority that belongs to Congress.
The tariffs bear no relation to possible underlying harms; they merely create a distortionary and regressive tax.
Pleased to present the economist amicus brief we filed yesterday in support of plaintiffs in litigation against the administration’s latest round of worldwide tariffs, imposed under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974. The pretextual justification for these tariffs is the burden on US commerce from overseas production involving forced labor.
2
1
16
1,211
It's very hard to find an economist who is not critical of the tariffs!
The IMF chooses instead someone who was "a less vocal critic".
FT exclusive: The IMF dropped the lead candidate to become its new chief economist at the eleventh hour after he was found to have made critical remarks about the Trump administration’s economic policies, according to people briefed on the process ft.trib.al/L3JKoT8
2
16
1,887
So happy to be part of this effort on climate coalitions, spearheaded by Catherine Wolfram.
See also our recent piece in Science that discusses these ideas. science.org/doi/10.1126/scie…
A new report from the Global Climate Policy Project at Harvard and MIT offers a practical framework for comparing different carbon-pricing systems without forcing them into a single model | @HarvardSalata @MITSloan
Read the report here: buff.ly/bMIP3n6
5
716
If the bond market still intimidates...
Carville: "I used to think that if there was reincarnation, I wanted to come back as the president ...or a .400 baseball hitter. But now I would like to come back as the bond market. You can intimidate everybody."
nytimes.com/2026/08/19/busin…
1
3
297
(1/2) Maybe now that the bond market cares, US policymakers will follow?
U.S. Debt Hits $40 Trillion as America’s Borrowing Binge Continues
5
2
8
717
Returning to 2009 parameters and tightening loopholes should be a no-brainer. And yet.
taxpolicycenter.org/taxvox/w…
4
261
(1/2) I've always found the politics of this tax mystifying. Why object to fixing loopholes and lowering exemptions for the transfer of intergenerational wealth when only the richest 4 in 1000 pay?
Who Would Be Affected By A Decrease In The Estate Tax Exemption?
5
3
9
2,214
In which I take my gloves off (see end of piece).
Trump Is Trapped in a Maelstrom of His Own Making nytimes.com/2026/08/11/opini…
5
467
This US ambassador to the EU is deeply confused.
The EU cbam applies EU carbon policy evenly to domestic and foreign goods alike. In contrast, US tariffs are just that.
3
3
16
1,020
Out today: part 2 of my blog with Maurice Obstfeld on why so-called "optimal" tariffs are not optimal.
Within, we discuss latest research on tariff incidence, and what we've learned from the Trump tariffs so far.
Multiple practical issues impede use of so-called "optimal" tariffs to improve national welfare, @KClausing & Maurice Obstfeld write.
Perhaps the biggest is US households & businesses have borne most of the burden of Trump's tariffs in practice.
Read: piie.com/blogs/realtime-econ…
2
7
1,638
(2/2) Even beyond the distortions, regressivity, dysfunction, and harm to foreign relations, tariffs are also failing as a revenue instrument.
To give some perspective, total federal revenues are about 20x tariff revenues for 2025, and in 2026 tariff revenues will be lower.
3
7
857
(1/2) My new blog out today with Maurice Obstfeld.
We discuss why so-called "optimal tariffs" are far from optimal.
In part 1 today, we show problems with the textbook argument, and note that other tax instruments are superior for the underlying aims.
"Optimal" tariffs are misnamed, @KClausing & Maurice Obstfeld write, & do not lead to a net gain in national welfare in practice—in fact, they harm US interests. Tariffs are also not an efficient way to shift tax burdens from US residents onto foreigners. piie.com/blogs/realtime-econ…
1
5
9
1,489
Let's be clear. Trump's new tariffs merely recreate his unlawful IEEPA tariffs, and they are also unlawful.
But it will take the courts a long time to establish this, if they do. In the meantime, US consumers and businesses will pay the price.
piie.com/blogs/realtime-econ…
6
13
1,821
Excellent piece from @Noahpinion. GDP doesn't capture everything, of course, as economists know very well.
But deliberately making Americans poorer isn't going to help Vance's goals or strengthen our society.
And, well, it also makes folks poorer.
Why is JD Vance attacking the idea of GDP?
Because he wants to do policies -- tariffs on allies and an immigration cutoff -- that he knows will make Americans poorer.
noahpinion.blog/p/jd-vances-…
5
45
9,359
[12/12] The event also included two other papers and is (in my view) a fun watch. The first hour is on corporate and the second on pass-through.
Link to video:
hamiltonproject.org/event/ta…
3
216
[11/12] We are a long way from being able to legislate these sorts of changes soon. But 2029 will be a moment to push for more fiscal responsibility. The corporate tax can be a bit part of making a tax system fit for purpose. Paper link:
hamiltonproject.org/publicat…
1
3
230
[10/12] Instead of burdening consumers, the corporate tax burdens shareholders. And w/ reforms to the base, corp. tax can be efficient. Whereas tariffs create large distortions, geopolitical harms, corruption, uncertainty, and harms to the export sector.
piie.com/publications/workin…
1
2
28