Irving Fisher's spendings (consumption) tax in retrospect.: An article from: The American Journal of Economics and Sociology

This digital document is an article from The American Journal of Economics and Sociology, published by American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Inc. on January 1, 2005. The length of the article is 6553 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

From the author: Irving Fisher wrote a significant number of papers towards the end of his career on the design of the U.S. tax system. These writings culminated in a book that he wrote with his brother Herbert in 1942. Fisher thought that the double taxation of saving under an income tax was extremely harmful to the economy and he therefore proposed a "spendings" tax or what he referred to as a "real income" tax. Even though he disliked the terminology, he advocated what today would be referred to as a progressive consumption tax. Fisher's analysis was both theoretical and practical. His 1942 book contained a proposed tax return that implemented his ideas. His analysis is surprisingly modern and relevant today. This paper presents the Fisher proposal and examines the current U.S. tax system in light of his tax views. We argue that Fisher would find that the U.S. tax system lacks intellectual coherence, is economically inefficient, and unnecessarily complex.

Citation Details
Title: Irving Fisher's spendings (consumption) tax in retrospect.
Author: John B. Shoven
Publication:The American Journal of Economics and Sociology (Refereed)
Date: January 1, 2005
Publisher: American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Inc.
Volume: 64 Issue: 1 Page: 215(21)

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