Veronique de Rugy

Senior Research Fellow

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Veronique de Rugy is a senior research fellow at the Mercatus Center. She was previously a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, a policy analyst at the Cato Institute, and a research fellow at the Atlas Economic Research Foundation. Her research interests include the federal budget, homeland security, taxation, tax competition, and financial privacy issues.

She writes a column for Reason magazine and is a regular contributor to The American, AEI's online magazine. She also blogs at The Corner at National Review Online and at Big Government.

She is the editor of the Mercatus publication series Mercatus on Policy.

Ms. de Rugy is the coauthor of Action ou Taxation, published in Switzerland in 1996. She is currently on the board of directors of the Center for Freedom and Prosperity.

Ms. de Rugy earned a MA in economics from the University of Paris IX-Dauphine and a PhD in economics from the University of Paris-Sorbonne. She previously directed academic programs for the Institute for Humane Studies-Europe in France.

PUBLISHED RESEARCH

Journal Article

Midnight Regulations and the Cinderella Effect

Antony Davies, Veronique de Rugy | Oct 01, 2009

Recent studies have shown preliminary evidence of a tendency for outgoing administrations to generate a flurry of last-minute regulatory activity. This so-called Cinderella effect is described as resulting from the combination of an administration being in power yet, because it is out-going, not being subject to political ramifications from its actions. In this paper, we look at monthly regulatory activity over the past 30 years and compare the baseline growth in regulations (measured using the proxy of pages in the Federal Register) to the growth immediately following a Presidential election when the sitting President is re-elected, not re-elected, and when the party in control of the White House changes. We find significant evidence supporting the existence of a Cinderella effect.

Research Paper/Study

Applying Strategic Risk Management at the Department of Homeland Security

Veronique de Rugy | Aug 28, 2009

In this publication, Veronique de Rugy uses port security as an example of how strategic risk management can be used to analyze threats to the nation, develop scenarios, pose key questions, and devise resource allocation options. To illustrate the potential of strategic risk management, she uses risk analysis to identify three options as to how the federal government might allocate its present resources to respond to national security threats more cost-effectively.

Research Paper/Study

Local Knowledge: Caring Communities: The Role of Nonprofits in Rebuilding the Gulf Coast

Daniel M. Rothschild, Emily Chamlee-Wright, Jennifer Zambone, Jerry Brito, Lenore Ealy, Veronique de Rugy, Virgil Storr, Peter J. Boettke | Aug 2009

This issue of Local Knowledge focuses on the role of nonprofits and social entrepreneurs in rebuilding the Gulf Coast. In this issue you can read research articles that explain what social entrepreneurship is; that discuss how social entrepreneurs and nonprofits play a critical role in the response to and recovery after disasters; and that detail where and when nonprofits have played key parts in rebuilding.

MORE PUBLISHED RESEARCH

WORKING PAPERS

Budget Gimmicks or the Destructive Art of Creative Accounting

Veronique de Rugy | Jun 15, 2010

For every attempt to cap government spending by regulation or statute, lawmakers seem to find new and creative accounting techniques that allow them to continue spending recklessly. In fact, there is evidence that creative bookkeeping is at the center of many countries' financial troubles.

Stimulus Facts

Veronique de Rugy | Apr 07, 2010

This paper analyzes the disbursement of funds authorized through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Using recipient report data from Recovery.gov and economic and political data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Census Bureau, GovTrack.us, and others, we have compiled a series of facts about stimulus spending. This report is simply to make use of the tens of thousands of stimulus recipient reports recently published on Recovery.gov, and to put the aggregate information contained in those reports in a larger context. This report will become part of a regular series as new recipient reports are released each quarter.

Stimulus Facts

Jerry Brito, Veronique de Rugy | Dec 2009

Using recipient report data from Recovery.gov and economic and political data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Census Bureau, GovTrack.us, and others, we have compiled a series of facts about stimulus spending.

MORE WORKING PAPERS

CHARTS

Temporary Staffing Declines in 2010

Veronique de Rugy | Aug 30, 2010

This chart by Mercatus Center Senior Research Fellow Veronique de Rugy illustrates the movements of one indicator of an economic recovery: temporary staffing levels.

Update: Stimulus Funds and Unemployment

Still No Correlation

Veronique de Rugy | Aug 23, 2010

This chart examines a state’s unemployment at the time The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act was passed and the stimulus funds that each state has received – there is no correlation between the two variables.

Update: Jobs Loss and Creation Since the Recovery Act

Veronique de Rugy | Aug 09, 2010

Using the most recent quarter of stimulus data from Recovery.gov and data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, this chart by Mercatus Center Senior Research Fellow Veronique de Rugy puts job creation numbers in context.

MORE CHARTS

DATA SETS

Stimulus Facts Data

Veronique de Rugy, Jakina R. Debnam | Jul 14, 2010

This data set contains general economic indicators and Recovery Act spending data. The full analysis of the this data will be incorporated into the forthcoming edition of Stimulus Facts, the third edition in a series of publications that examines stimulus spending.

POLICY BRIEFS

Does Government Spending Stimulate Economies?

Veronique de Rugy, Jakina R. Debnam | Jul 14, 2010

In response to the financial crisis, Congress passed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act(ARRA) in February 2009, which totaled $789 billion in government spending. President Obama reassured anxious Americans that this spending would “revive our economy” and “create 3.5 million jobs” over the next two years. A new study by Harvard professor Dr. Robert Barro and Charles Redlick tests this claim and the economic theory that underlies it by using defense spending as a proxy for overall government spending.

Is PAYGO a No-Go?

Veronique de Rugy, David Bieler | Jun 02, 2010

After a seven-year hiatus, the statutory "pay-as-you-go" (PAYGO) federal spending rule is once again the law of the land. Numerous policy makers have touted its benefits while emphasizing their renewed commitment to fiscal responsibility. President Obama recently described PAYGO as a very simple restraint: "Congress can only spend a dollar if it saves a dollar elsewhere."

The Death of Fiscal Federalism

Veronique de Rugy, Stefanie Haeffele-Balch | Jun 02, 2010

In May 2009, the federal government forced South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford to take his state's share of federal stimulus funds and spend the money on new programs rather than on paying down debt. Many free-market advocates claimed this alarming move threatened the fiscal federalism, but fiscal federalism has been threatened for decades. The growth of the federal government and its ever-increasing number of grants and subsidies to state governments have eroded fiscal federalism and competition among states substantially.

MORE POLICY BRIEFS

TESTIMONY & COMMENTS

Congressional Testimony

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009: An Update

Testimony before the House Budget Committee

Veronique de Rugy | Jul 14, 2010

Since the Great Recession began in December 2007, employment has shrunk by 7.5 million jobs1, long-term unemployment is higher now than in any previous recession2, and real GDP has plummeted to 2006 levels3. The understandable temptation to take action in time of recession however should not lead lawmakers to take counterproductive actions.

Congressional Testimony

The Nation's Mid and Long-Term Fiscal Challenges

Testimony before the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform

Veronique de Rugy | Jun 30, 2010

Well over a decade of irresponsible fiscal policy has created an unsustainable fiscal situation for the United States. The longer we delay serious consideration of meaningful solutions, the larger the problem will become. In order to assist the Commission in evaluating those proposals, as well as to assist Congress and the President in evaluating the recommendations ultimately advanced by the Commission, Dr. de Rugy proposes three criteria that will help evaluate whether those proposals and the Commission’s final recommendations will address our fiscal problems.

Congressional Testimony

Oversight of Federal Financial Management

Testimony before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Subcommittee on Government Management, Organization, and Procurement

Veronique de Rugy | Apr 14, 2010

In a testimony before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Subcommittee on Government Management, Organization, and Procurement, Mercatus Center's Senior Research Fellow, Veronique de Rugy presents data about our nations financial situation and why our huge deficits and debts matter in the short and long run.

MORE TESTIMONY & COMMENTS

MORE MEDIA CLIPPINGS

Veronique de Rugy