Craig Brett
Biography
As a teacher, I specialize in microeconomics, public economics, environmental economics and econometrics. My goal is to help students think in a structured, logical way about economics issues and policies. I also want to help them understand how to use data and evidence to decide among competing claims.
As a researcher, I study taxes in their various forms.
And remember: When you see a number on the street, ask it, "Are you a big number or a small number?"
Publications
Craig Brett and John A. Weymark (2019) Optimal Nonlinear Taxation of Income and Savings Without Commitment, Journal of Public Economic Theory 21:5-43.
Craig Brett and John A. Weymark (2017) Voting Over Selfishly Optimal Nonlinear Income Tax Schedules, Games and Economic Behavior 101: 172-188.
Craig Brett and Laurence Jacquet (2015) Workforce or Workfare? The Optimal Use of Work Requirements when Labor is Supplied along the Extensive Margin, Canadian Journal of Economics 48:1855-1882.
Felix Bierbrauer, Craig Brett and John A. Weymark (2013) Strategic Nonlinear Income Tax Competition with Perfect Labor Mobility, Games and Economic Behavior, 82: 292-311.
Craig Brett (2012) The Effects of Population Aging on Optimal Redistributive Taxes in an Overlapping Generations Model, International Tax and Public Finance, 19: 777-799.
Craig Brett and John A. Weymark (2008) The Impact of Changing Skill Levels on Optimal Nonlinear Income Taxes, Journal of Public Economics 92: 1765-1771.
Craig Brett (2007) Optimal Nonlinear Taxes for Families, International Tax and Public Finance 14: 225-261.
Joris Pinkse, Margaret Slade and Craig Brett (2002) Spatial Price Competition: A Semi-Parametric Approach, Econometrica 70: 1111-1153.
Craig Brett and Joris Pinkse (2000) The Determinants of Municipal Tax Rates in British Columbia, Canadian Journal of Economics 33: 695-714.
Craig Brett and Michael Keen (2000) Political Uncertainty and the Earmarking of Environmental Taxes, Journal of Public Economics 75: 315-340.
Craig Brett (1998) Who Should Be on Workfare? The Use of Work Requirements as Part of the Optimal Tax Mix, Oxford Economic Papers 50: 607-622.
Links to Working Papers (unpublished)
A Note on Nonlinear Taxation in an Overlapping Generations Model, Munich Personal RePEc Archive.
Education
PhD (Econ), University of British Columbia, 1996
MA (Econ), University of British Columbia, 1992
BA, Hons. (Econ and Math), Mount Allison University, 1991
Teaching
Fall 2019: Econ 3801 Environmental Economics, Econ 4001 Classical Economic Thought
Winter 2020: Econ 4521 Normative Economics, Econ 4821 Uncertainty and Strategy in Economics
Research
Optimal taxation: income taxes, migration, commodity taxes
Political economy: voting over income taxes, earmarked taxes
Tax-transfer policy: workfare
General: effects of demographic change on redistributive policies
Current Research Projects
Relationships Between Finite and Continuous Models of Nonlinear Income Taxes (with John Weymark)
Nonlinear Income Taxes and Equal Opportunity (with Laurence Jacquet and Robin Boadway)
Probabilistic Voting over Income Taxes
Nonlinear Income Taxes with General Equilibrium Wage Determination (with Laurence Jacquet)