Law Commons^™

The Political Economy Of Taxation: A Critical Review Of A Classic, Nancy Staudt

Faculty Working Papers

This book review reexamines Henry Simons famous contribution to the tax policy literature, "Personal Income Taxation: The Definition of Income as Problem in Fiscal Policy" (1938). It argues that while Professor Simons was concerned with tax fairness and the redistribution of income, he adopted a definition of income that worked to undermine the interests of many of the poor individuals in society that he sought to support.