Research Catalog

Title

Tax progressivity and income inequality / edited by Joel Slemrod.

Publication

Cambridge [England] ; New York, NY, USA : Cambridge University Press, 1994.

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Holdings

Details

Additional Authors

• Slemrod, Joel.
• University of Michigan. School of Business Administration.

Description

ix, 363 pages : illustrations; 24 cm

Summary

• This book assembles nine research papers written by leading public-finance economists on the subject of tax progressivity and its relationship to income inequality.
• The papers document the changes during the 1980s in progressivity at the federal, state, and local levels in the United States. Conceptual issues about how to measure progressivity are investigated, as well as the extent to which declining progressivity contributed to the well-documented increase in income inequality over the past two decades.
• Several papers investigate the economic impact and cost of progressive tax systems. Special attention is given to behavioral responses - including portfolio composition - to the taxation of high-income individuals. The concluding papers address the contentious issue of what constitutes a "fair" tax system. They contrast public attitudes concerning alternative tax systems to economists' notions of fairness, and examine the trade-off between fairness and economic growth.
• Each paper is followed by the formal commentary of a conference participant plus a summary of the conference discussion.

Subjects

• Income distribution > United States > Congresses
• Income tax > United States > Congresses
• Progressive taxation > United States > Congresses
• Tax incidence > United States > Congresses

Note

• Nine papers presented at a conference held at the "Michigan Business School" on September 11-12, 1992.

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references and index.

Contents

1. Introduction / Joel Slemrod -- 2. Trends in federal tax progressivity, 1980-93 / Richard Kasten, Frank Sammartino and Eric Toder -- 3. The lifetime incidence of state and local taxes: measuring changes during the 1980s / Gilbert E. Metcalf -- 4. Trends in income inequality: the impact of, and implications for, tax policy / Lynn A. Karoly -- 5. The efficiency cost of increased progressivity / Robert K. Triest -- 6. On the high-income Laffer curve / Joel Slemrod -- 7. Tax progressivity and household portfolios: descriptive evidence from the Survey of Consumer Finances / John Karl Scholz -- 8. Progressivity of capital gains taxation with optimal portfolio selection / Michael Haliassos and Andrew B. Lyon -- 9. Perceptions of fairness in the crucible of tax policy / Steven M. Sheffrin -- 10. Progressive taxation, equity, and tax design / Richard A. Musgrave.

ISBN

0521465435

LCCN

93032410

OCLC

• 28927063
• ocm28927063

Owning Institutions

Columbia University Libraries