Primer on taxes as policy?

March 26, 2024 6:50 AM

I am looking for a primer on taxes as policy -- the pros and cons income tax, property tax, sales tax, wealth tax, etc., and about whether any of them are easier to implement or change, or more or less acceptable to voters, etc. I am interested in general but also especially as applied to U.S. municipalities.
posted by NotLost to Law & Government (5 answers total)

I found Pikkety's Capital useful for this.
posted by shadygrove at 6:55 AM on March 26

Best answer: Online, from the essential Tax Policy Center, the "Tax Policy Briefing Book:
A citizen’s guide to the fascinating (though often complex) elements of the US tax system."

If you want a book, Taxes in America: What Everyone Needs to Know by Leonard E. Burman and Joel Slemrod.
posted by Mr.Know-it-some at 7:25 AM on March 26 [2 favorites]

Center on Budget and Policy Priorities does research at the state and federal level.

There are state-specific policy institutes, e.g. California Budget & Policy Center.

There's some super interesting research on municipal credit ratings and how interest rates impact city budgets, including taxation choices. I'll try to comb through my hard drive and recommend specific articles later.

Kim Phillips-Fein's book on the NYC fiscal crisis Fear City (link goes to NYT review) might be a good place to start thinking about this historically. Oh! And the "tax revolt" that led to the passage of Prop 13 in California (also in the 70s) had HUGE effects on how cities had to fund themselves.
posted by spamandkimchi at 10:33 AM on March 26

I haven't read it, but I like the "Very Short Introduction" series from Oxford Press.
posted by purple_bird at 11:32 AM on March 26 [1 favorite]

I really enjoyed (in a "well now I feel absolutely justified in my hatred of billionaires" kinda way) The triumph of injustice: how the rich dodge taxes and how to make them pay by Emmanuel Saez and Gabriel Zucman.
posted by mostly vowels at 12:52 PM on March 26 [1 favorite]