Tax Justice: The Ongoing Debate

In the 50 years since the publication of Walter Blum and Harry Kalvin's classic "The Uneasy Case for Progressive Taxation," the debate among tax experts has drifted from frank discussion of distributive justice--whether the tax system should be used to address income inequality--towards the less unsettling ideas associated with horizontal equity--which holds that taxpayers with the same income should pay the same amount of taxes. Still, tax justice has remained a prominent fixture of the political debate, as evidenced by vigorous discussion of the "fairness" of recent tax bills, and the longevity of "flat tax" proposals. This volume explores the ongoing debate, offering perspectives on tax justice from nine leading experts. The contributions include historical evaluations of the U.S. tax system, theoretical explorations of distributive justice, and analyses of tax justice issues in contemporary policy debates. Together, they offer fresh insight into this politically potent subject. Contributors include Richard A Musgrave, Dennis J. Ventry Jr., W. Elliot Brownlee, Carolyn C. Jones, Daniel Shaviro, Barbara Fried, David Brunori, Joan M. Youngman, and C. Eugene Steuerle.