Law Commons^™

Paint-By-Numbers Tax Lawmaking, Michael J. Graetz

Faculty Scholarship

Although their meaning and contours have long been controversial, the general criteria for evaluating changes in tax law enjoy both stability and consensus. At least since Adam Smith, there has been virtually universal agreement that the nation's tax law should be fair, economically efficient, and simple to comply with and to administer. Tax law changes should be designed to make the law more equitable, easier to comply with, more conducive to economic growth, and less likely to interfere with private economic decisionmaking.

Precisely what these criteria imply for policymaking is controversial, however. Fairness is often said to require that people …

Valuing Oil And Mineral Interests For Estate Planning Purposes, Lawrence H. Averill

Faculty Scholarship

In this article, the author discusses a number of factors which should be considered when valuing oil and mineral interests, with a primary emphasis on estate planning concerns. The article to a large extent focuses on the various techniques utilized in the valuation process, and in so doing, considers a number of key concepts and terms and identifies problems which commonly arise in the valuation of oil and mineral assets.