Taxes and Tax Policy
By Brian Roach
Tax policy is one of the most debated, and often misunderstood, issues in politics and economics. This module provides students with critical tools to understand how taxes work and how they are essential for the government’s functioning. It introduces the US tax system, including the historical development of tax policies, and then presents an overview of tax systems in other countries along with an international comparison of tax data. An analysis on current tax debates is presented, focusing on issues such as the distribution of tax burden among different groups and the relationship between taxes and economic growth.