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Taxing Ourselves, fifth edition: A Citizen's Guide to the Debate over Taxes
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Taxing Ourselves, fifth edition: A Citizen's Guide to the Debate over Taxes
560eBookfifth edition (fifth edition)
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Overview
To follow the debate over tax reform, the interested citizen is often forced to choose between misleading sound bites and academic treatises. Taxing Ourselves bridges the gap between the oversimplified and the arcane, presenting the key issues clearly and without a political agenda. Tax policy experts Joel Slemrod and Jon Bakija lay out in accessible language what is known and not known about how taxes affect the economy and offer guidelines for evaluating tax systems—both the current tax system and proposals to reform it.
This fifth edition has been extensively revised to incorporate the latest data, empirical evidence, and tax law. It offers new material on recent tax reform proposals, expanded coverage of international tax issues, and the latest enforcement initiatives. Offering historical perspectives, outlining the basic criteria by which tax policy should be judged (fairness, economic impact, enforceability), examining proposals for both radical change (replacement of the income tax with a flat tax or consumption tax) and incremental changes to the current system, and concluding with a voter's guide, the book provides readers with enough background to make informed judgments about how we should tax ourselves.
Praise for earlier editions
“An excellent book.”
—Jeff Medrick, New York Times
“A fair-minded exposition of a politically loaded subject.”
—Kirkus Reviews
Product Details
ISBN-13: | 9780262338097 |
---|---|
Publisher: | MIT Press |
Publication date: | 06/02/2017 |
Series: | The MIT Press |
Sold by: | Penguin Random House Publisher Services |
Format: | eBook |
Pages: | 560 |
Sales rank: | 855,959 |
File size: | 2 MB |
Age Range: | 18 Years |
About the Author
Jon Bakija is Professor of Economics at Williams College.
Table of Contents
Preface vii
1 Introduction 1
2 An Overview of the U.S. Tax System 15
3 Fairness 85
4 Taxes and Economic Prosperity 145
5 Simplicity and Enforceability 229
6 Elements of Fundamental Reform 289
7 Consumption Tax Alternatives 349
8 Starting from Here 391
9 A Voter's Guide to the Tax Policy Debate 411
Notes 417
References 471
Index 523
What People are Saying About This
"This book is a most timely and thoughtful discussion of the federal tax system and current proposals for its reform. Thorough, objective, and up-to-date in its analysis and set in the historical/political context, this book is a must-read for every citizen and student who wishes enlightenment on one of the most vital and controversial issues of the day."--Peggy B. Musgrave, University of California,
Santa Cruz
"The newest edition of Taxing Ourselves provides a comprehensive treatment of the issues and a fresh look at recent developments in US tax policy.
Using the clear language that has been a hallmark of earlier editions, Slemrod and Bakija lead the citizen taxpayer through the jungle of tax provisions and jargon to an understanding of how the tax system affects our lives, how we might do better,
and what roadblocks stand in the way."--Alan J. Auerbach, Robert D. Burch Professor of Economics and Law, and Director, Burch Center for Tax Policy and Public Finance,
University of California, Berkeley
This updated version of Taxing Ourselves remains the essential resource on tax policy for students, researchers, and the interested public.
Joel Slemrod and Jon Bakija have done it again. The new edition of Taxing Ourselves is a beautifully written and up-to-date treatment of the theoretical, empirical, and institutional aspects of tax policy. Both students and aficionados of tax policy will find this volume an invaluable resource.
This book is a most timely and thoughtful discussion of the federal tax system and current proposals for its reform. Thorough, objective, and up-to-date in its analysis and set in the historical/political context, this book is a must-read for every citizen and student who wishes enlightenment on one of the most vital and controversial issues of the day.
Joel Slemrod and Jon Bakija have done it again. The new edition of Taxing Ourselves is a beautifully written and up-to-date treatment of the theoretical, empirical, and institutional aspects of tax policy. Both students and aficionados of tax policy will find this volume an invaluable resource.
Harvey Rosen, Department of Economics, Princeton University
This updated version of Taxing Ourselves remains the essential resource on tax policy for students, researchers, and the interested public.
Austan Goolsbee, Robert P. Gwinn Professor of Economics, University of Chicago's Booth School of Business; former Chairman of the Council of Economic AdvisersWith a fresh perspective informed by insights from the latest economic research, Slemrod and Bakija engage the reader with a wealth of information about our tax system, its problems, and the challenges we confront in attempting tax reform in an era of increasing inequality, growing national debt, and sharp political polarization. But perhaps the biggest barrier to tax reform is misunderstanding, to which this book is an effective antidote.
Alan J. Auerbach, Robert D. Burch Professor of Economics and Law, and Director, Robert D. Burch Center for Tax Policy and Public Finance, University of California, BerkeleyWith a fresh perspective informed by insights from the latest economic research, Slemrod and Bakija engage the reader with a wealth of information about our tax system, its problems, and the challenges we confront in attempting tax reform in an era of increasing inequality, growing national debt, and sharp political polarization. But perhaps the biggest barrier to tax reform is misunderstanding, to which this book is an effective antidote.
"A major impediment to rational tax reform is that most politicians,
journalists, and citizens fail to grasp the key issues. Even those who understand much about taxes may be naïve about tax policy. With Taxing Ourselves, all can stop making excuses and start making sense."--Louis Kaplow, Finn M.W. Caspersen and Household International Professor of Law and Economics, Harvard