After the Social Security debate, it’s a good bet that tax reform will become the next big item on the domestic agenda. No doubt it will be another political fight that has an ideological dimension larger than its economic dimension; nonetheless, simplification of the tax code would yield big efficiencies in the private sector, so the battle will be worth fighting.
I’ve seen firsthand the magnitude of resources expended by individuals and by businesses large and small—all trying to comply with the current system, while at the same time not overpaying. It’s a huge waste. Tax simplification would free up significant resources for growth-inducing, job-creating ventures—which, as a side benefit, would generate incremental tax revenues.
Two recent articles—one in The Economist about what’s right with the Flat Tax idea, and the other by Bruce Bartlett about what’s wrong with the National Sales Tax idea—both suggest to me that dusting off one or two of my books on the subject might be a good idea. (Better yet, if I can find their Adobe eBook versions, I’ll buy the books again; I like being able to e-search for words and phrases.)
In any case, links to the two books I’ll be rereading in the near future are below. Either book is a good summary of the pros and cons of the major alternatives our politicians would be considering whenever the tax reform debate moves to the top of the list.
[related article: The Flat Tax is Progressive]
