Tax Law Commons^™

Inequality has been increasing in the United States. We should care about this increase because inequality contributes to a variety of adverse social consequences that persist across generations. There is also substantial empirical evidence that inequality has a long-term negative impact on economic growth. For many decades, federal tax policy has played an important role in reducing inequality, although the impact of federal taxes on inequality has waxed and waned depending on the focus of elected officials. We argue that the estate tax is a particularly apt vehicle to reduce inequality because inheritances are a major source of wealth among …

[Also appears in Federal Wealth Transfer Tax Anthology, edited by Paul L. Caron, Grayson M.P. McCouch, Karen C. Burke, 269-275. Cincinnati: Anderson Publishing, 1998. An adaptation with title "The Alchemy in Estate and Gift Taxation" appears in Boston College Law School Magazine 4 (Spring 1996): 28-32.]

[Also appears in Tax Law, volume 1, edited by Patricia D. White, 439-454. New York: New York University Press, 1995.]