Government cuts taxes when stock prices rise, raises them with housing prices.
The article examines how government spending and taxes change in response to changes in asset prices and wealth composition in the US and UK. They used different models to analyze the data and found that taxes are lowered when stock prices rise, and raised when housing prices increase. Government spending and fiscal balance also adjust in a nonlinear way to wealth and price effects. During major recessions and financial crises, tax cuts are important in the US, while spending increases are crucial in the UK to offset the decline in wealth. Overall, the study shows that government debt does not stabilize the economy, and fiscal policy tends to be countercyclical, adjusting to changes in wealth and asset prices.