WashU Experts

Much of the debate over the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act focuses on whether Congress favors rich corporations over poor people. But an expert on tax law at Washington University in St. Louis asks, what about poor corporations?

The solar development industry in Missouri is likely to take a particularly hard hit as a result of a recently announced import tariff on solar cells and panels, according to Phil Valko, assistant vice chancellor for sustainability at Washington University in St. Louis.

David and Louise Turpin have been accused of abusing their 13 children for years inside their California home, a case that has captured international attention. What should you do to try to better recognize signs of abuse in your neighborhood? The bottom line: If you think a child is in danger or is being hurt, call a hotline, says a child abuse expert at Washington University in St. Louis.

As economists float the proposal to give every U.S. newborn a “baby bond” account, Michael Sherraden, professor at the Brown School, says a solution already exists — Child Development Accounts, a policy concept first proposed in his groundbreaking 1991 book, “Assets and the Poor.”

United States Attorney General Jeff Sessions this week made it easier for federal marijuana laws to be enforced in states that had legalized its use, a move that may backfire, says a legal expert at Washington University in St. Louis.

Generic medications could be an effective way to improve health outcomes while lowering costs, but the existing drug patent system is poorly designed to motivate such discoveries, says an expert on health law at Washington University in St. Louis.

In reaction to multiple countries — including Canada, the United Kingdom, France and Italy — announcing at the United Nations climate talks that they’re unifying to phase out coal-generated power by 2030, an environmental engineer at Washington University in St. Louis warned that a “mix of energy sources” is vital for the near future.

The U.S. House of Representatives Republican tax proposal, released Nov. 2, would institute a number of wholesale changes to the American tax code, including the end of neutrality in the international tax system, says an expert on international tax law at Washington University in St. Louis.

The bipartisan bill proposed by U.S. Sens. Lamar Alexander and Patty Murray, aimed at shoring up the troubled health insurance markets, has some approaches that would help fix the marketplaces, but more changes are needed, says a health economist at Washington University in St. Louis.

The First Amendment does not give Masterpiece Cakeshop and its owner, Jack Phillips, the license to discriminate against gay couples, as businesses open to the general public have a longstanding obligation to provide full and equal service to customers, argues a legal scholar at Washington University in St. Louis.