United States Tax Reform in the 21st Century

The collection investigates whether incremental or fundamental US tax reforms are preferable.

George R. Zodrow (Edited by), Peter Mieszkowski (Edited by)

9780521084901, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 14 October 2008

364 pages, 21 b/w illus. 18 tables
23.4 x 15.4 x 1.9 cm, 0.52 kg

"The book serves as a good, balanced guide to the reform debate and an excellent example of questions to consider when analyzing policy...The essays presented in this volume provide insight into the current opinions on incremental and fundamental tax reform. Each essay can stand alone as a tool for analyzing the debate, but overall, the volume provdies a balanced view nad is helpful to all who are involved or interested in tax reform. The essays contain well-organized, understandable narratives with very little math, making it useful as a supplemental reading for all levels of courses as well as for general interest."- Julia M. Brennan, Assistant Professor, University of Massachusetts

Tax reform debates in the United States have focused on the question of whether the existing corporate and individual income tax system should be replaced with some form of a national consumption tax. This book contains essays written by internationally recognized tax experts who describe the current state in economic thinking on the issue of whether fundamental tax reform is preferable to continued incremental reform of the existing income tax. The papers were originally commissioned by the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy at Rice University, Houston. The collection covers a range of tax policy issues related to consumption tax reforms, including their economic effects, distributional consequences, effects on administrative and compliance costs, transitional issues and the political aspects of fundamental tax reform, and international comparisons. The book will serve as a comprehensive guide to the ongoing tax reform debate to tax policy makers and the general electorate.

1. The fundamental question in fundamental tax reform George R. Zodrow and Peter Mieszkowski
2. Behavioral responses to a consumption tax Jane G. Gravelle
3. The economic impact of fundamental tax reform Dale W. Jorgenson and Peter J. Wilcoxen
4. Capital income taxation in tax reform: implications for analysis of distribution and efficiency R. Glenn Hubbard
5. International aspects of fundamental tax reform Charles L. Ballard
6. Distributive analysis of fundamental tax Peter Mieszkowski and Michael G. Palumbo
7. The role of administrative issues in tax reform: simplicity, compliance, and administration William G. Gale and Janet Holtzblatt
8. Evaluating NRST from a VAT perspective Sijbren Cnossen
9. Transitional issues in the implementation of a flat tax or a national retail sales tax George R. Zodrow
10. Historical and contemporary debate on consumption taxes Malcolm Gillis
11. The politics and ideology of fundamental tax reform Joe Barnes
Bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: Economics [KC], Politics & government [JP], Sociology & anthropology [JH], Regional studies [GTB]