The Myth of Ownership: Taxes and Justice - Softcover

Murphy, Liam; Nagel, Thomas

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0195176561 ISBN 13: 9780195176568

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 2004

Synopsis

In a capitalist economy, taxes are the most important instrument by which the political system puts into practice a conception of economic and distributive justice. Taxes arouse strong passions, fueled not only by conflicts of economic self-interest, but by conflicting ideas of fairness. Taking as a guiding principle the conventional nature of private property, Murphy and Nagel show how taxes can only be evaluated as part of the overall system of property rights that they help to create. Justice or injustice in taxation, they argue, can only mean justice or injustice in the system of property rights and entitlements that result from a particular regime. Taking up ethical issues about individual liberty, interpersonal obligation, and both collective and personal responsibility, Murphy and Nagel force us to reconsider how our tax policy shapes our system of property rights.

About this title

About the Author:

Liam Murphy teaches law and philosophy at New York University. He is the author of Moral Demands in Nonideal Theory. Thomas Nagel teaches law and philosophy at New York University. He is the author of Moral Questions, Equality and Partiality, and The Last Word.

Review:

"The thoughts in this book deserve examination, especially the views of Nagel and Murphy on the self-interest each taxpayer reasonably has in the social justice purchased by hard-earned money....[They] offer ideas that would improve the national debate."--David Cay Johnston,New York Times Book Review

"Murphy and Nagel claim that pretax income is a myth, and, as such, has no moral significance.... The Myth of Ownership significantly increases the sophistication of the discussion [fairness in taxation]."--Michigan Law Review

Their research is impressive, their reasoning precise.... should be on every public economics reading list."--Journal of Economic Issues

About this edition

• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 0195176561
• ISBN 13: 9780195176568
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 240