Mercatus Center Policy Guide

Dear Policy Reader:

The Mercatus Center at George Mason University is pleased to provide you with our new policy guide. The guide is designed to provide easily accessible economic information that might prove useful in pre- paring for hearings or town hall meetings, drafting speeches or policy papers, and generally educating the public regarding spending, taxes, regulation, financial markets, and technology policy.

Links, highlighted throughout in blue, to the relevant documents follow all of the major points for ease of further reading and research. Also, Mercatus scholars are available to further explain or expound upon the results of their studies. These guides are not intended to be a comprehensive overview of economic policy but a starting point for discussion and inquiry.

The policy guide is divided into sections focused on spending and taxes, regulatory policy (which includes technology-related research), and financial markets. Our hope is that these divisions will be helpful to you, especially when you need a quick reference. There are also links to economic charts that may be use- ful in understanding a number of issues; the gentle reader is welcome to reproduce the charts for use in larger graphic displays.

In addition to this personal copy, the Policy Guide can be found on the Mercatus Center’s website, www.mercatus.org. We hope the guide will prove to be a valuable tool in your economic policy research. The Mercatus Center at George Mason University welcomes your feedback on the policy guide and your further inquiries regarding economic research.

The policy guide is divided into three sections:

  • spending and taxes, page 3, 
  • regulatory policy (including technology-related research), page 13, and 
  • financial markets, page 25.