Product Description

A majority of Americans are dissatisfied with the current income tax system. They complain that taxes are too high, complicated, difficult, unfair and sometimes intrusive to enforce. Yet how should the system be fixed? In "Taxing Ourselves", Joel Slemrod and Jon Bakija offer a guide to the tax reform debate in clear, nontechnical language without misleading the reader with oversimplifications. The second edition takes account of tax developments through 1998, examines recent research on the economic impact of taxation, and includes a new appendix containing the key statistics on the US tax system throughout its history. The book gives an historical perspective on taxation in the United States along with a concise description of our current federal income tax system. It reviews basic criteria by which tax policy should be judged and examines how the tax burden is distributed and what is known about the economic effects of taxation. The book then covers the key elements of various tax reform proposals, including a single rate, a clean base and a consumption base. The book closes with a voter's guide to tax reform for the concerned citizen to keep handy when the rhetoric heats up - as it inevitably will during the 2000 presidential campaign - to help separate fact from fiction and reality from campaign promises.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3122673 in Books
• Published on: 2001-04-02
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 360 pages

Review
"Praise for the first edition: "Taxing Ourselves is one of the best books on taxation I have ever read." - Bruce Bartlett, Wall Street Journal; "For anybody interested in tax reform, yet confused by political polemic, Taxing Ourselves is an invaluable guide to the debate." - The Economist"

About the Author
Joel Slemrod is Paul W. McCracken Collegiate Professor of Business Economics and Public Policy and Director of the Office of Tax Policy Research at the University of Michigan. Jon Bakija is Assistant Professor of Economics at Williams College.

Customer Reviews

Great book on complex topic!
This is a really great and readable text on what is often a challenging topic. The authors really have provided some insightful analysis on what is always a timely topic. I learned a tremendous amount and easily made my way through the flowing prose. I suggest this book for anyone interested in taxation and also for those of us who are simply "tax curious". This is a particularly relevant book given the upcoming elections!

'User-friendly' tour of tax reform
This slender volume is a readable and entertaining survey of the woes of the current income tax system and of a variety of tax reform proposals intended to replace the current system. The section of the book that discusses the tax system's effect on labor supply, saving & investment, incentive to work, international competiveness, and other economic 'macro' effects, is especially insightful. The authors conclude (probably correctly) that the tax system's effect on these things is probably marginal, and, in any event, difficult to measure empirically. Therefore, any tax reform that promises 'economic nirvana' should be taken with a grain of salt. The authors suggest, without endorsement, that the hallmarks of any new (or improved) tax system should be simplicity, enforcability, and revenue- raising efficiency; the last denotes the absence of 'social tinkering' through the tax system. Unfortunately, the authors note that all of the various tax reform proposals being floated by politicians suffer severe political defects. A national sales tax would be difficult to enforce (that's probably correct); a broad-based value added tax (VAT) would be highly regressive; the 'flat tax' (wage tax) would be less progressive than the current income tax; and the consumed income tax (consumption tax) would be more complicated than the current income tax (that's probably not correct, and the authors do not explain this assertion well). These are principally political impediments to reform- the authors suggest that it will take an act of political courage by Congress or the president to make any progress on the tax reform front. That's clearly correct, but don't hold your breath.

If you want to know about tax reform, read this book.
Tax reform isn't usually one of those topics that gets people excited -- most people view it the same way George Bush looks at broccoli. But Slemrod and Bakija do a great job of making it interesting and explaining complex ideas in simple language. If you want to know how Steve Forbes' flat tax will hit your wallet or how much the current income tax system stymies growth, this is the book for you. Simply, it is a great, great place to start to learn about tax reform. It's as good as it gets on the topic.