Taxing Ourselves - 2nd Edition: A Citizen's Guide to the Great Debate over Tax Reform

Joel Slemrod~Jon Bakija

ISBN 10: 0262194295 / ISBN 13: 9780262194297

Published by The MIT Press, 2000

About this Item

Very Good condition. Good dust jacket. 2nd edition. A copy that may have a few cosmetic defects. May also contain light spine creasing or a few markings such as an owner's name, short gifter's inscription or light stamp.

Seller Inventory # I14K-00163

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Taxing Ourselves - 2nd Edition: A Citizen's Guide to the Great Debate over Tax Reform
• Publisher: The MIT Press
• Publication Date: 2000
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0262194295
• ISBN 13: 9780262194297
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 2nd Edition
• Condition: Very Good
• Dust Jacket Condition: Dust Jacket Included

About this title

Synopsis

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 U.S. tax system throughout its history.

The book gives a 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.

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.