Comments

"Eugene Steuerle is one of Washington's ranking policy wonks-a term used here with respect. He's forgotten more about taxes in the last 15 seconds than most of us will ever know. He arrived in Washington in 1974, worked for years at the Treasury and moved in 1989 to the Urban Institute, a think tank. Steuerle has just written a book, Contemporary U.S. Tax Policy, that ought to be studied by every member of Congress and, more important, addresses the insistent question: why is the federal tax system such a mess? The answer, in a word, is democracy."

—Robert J. Samuelson
Contributing Editor, Newsweek

"If you want to know how our tax laws really are made, read Gene Steuerle's valuable analysis of the past two extraordinary decades of fiscal policy. Steuerle brings an important perspective as both a long-time Washington insider and one of the nation's best tax economists to this complex and profoundly important tale."

—Howard Gleckman
Senior Correspondent, Business Week

"Gene Steuerle has once again proven why he is one of the most honest and credible tax authorities in Washington. His book provides an unusually principled, unbiased, and reliable account of modern tax policy—a particularly important contribution when so many analysts on both the left and the right are focused on pushing ideological agendas. Contemporary U.S. Tax Policy will certainly be a 'must read' for anyone interested in tax policy."

—Maya MacGuineas
Executive Director, Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, The New America Foundation

"Once again, Gene Steuerle has provided a superb analysis of the current tax system and how we got here. Factual and straightforward, this book will be an invaluable resource in the classroom, bringing clarity to students of tax policy, young and old."

—Douglas A. Shackelford
Kenan-Flagler Business School, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

"In a tax policy environment increasingly characterized by reductionist sound bites and misleading claims, Gene Steuerle stands out as a nonpartisan, wise and unflinching truth-teller. Everyone trying to understand the present dilemmas of tax policymaking—how we got here and how to change for the better—needs his timely and penetrating analysis. Hopefully, responsible policymakers and concerned citizens alike will pay heed to this brilliant and compelling book that attempts no less than to help restore fiscal sanity to a deeply troubled nation."

—Stanford G. Ross
former White House, Treasury, and Social Security official

"The bible on the last 25 years of U.S. tax policy."

—Jeffrey Liebman
Harvard University

"Gene Steuerle is one of the wisest and most generous public policy thinkers at work today. Contemporary U.S. Tax Policy is a volume every budget reporter and tax analyst in America will want to keep close at hand."

—Peter G. Gosselin
National Economics Correspondent, Los Angeles Times

"I am a long-time fan of Gene Steuerle and his work, most importantly his ability to bring clarity and balance to a debate that is often dominated by partisanship and bias. Contemporary U.S. Tax Policy provides a compelling examination of how theoretical arguments have blended with powerful constituencies to shape and reshape tax policy over the past 50 years. Academics as well as tax lawyers should read this concise history."

—Daniel Halperin
Stanley S. Surrey Professor, Harvard Law School

"Gene Steuerle's command of history, combined with his practical experience and savvy economic analysis, make him—and this book—unique. Steuerle is in a class by himself by being able to sort out how idealistic principles, economic ideas, crass self-interest, and unpredictable events have all shaped taxation in America since World War II. His vivid, well-written book is a must read for historians of public policy, and for anyone who wants to understand the complicated and conflicted history of modern tax policy."

—W. Elliot Brownlee
Professor Emeritus of History, University of California, Santa Barbara

"Anyone wondering why the U.S. tax code is the mammoth, miasmic mess that it is need look no farther for answer than Eugene Steuerle's new study of contemporary U.S. tax policymaking. In America, as Steuerle lucidly explains, the tax code has been the great engine of compromise, offering (usually disguised) rewards to virtually every political faction from tax cutters to spending boosters, social engineers and economic stimulators alike. Even if readers do not all agree with Steuerle's 'bittersweet' conclusions, in arriving at that point they will surely have learned enough about the 'tax-policy ropes' to participate knowledgeably in the ongoing debate."

—Jodie Allen
Managing Editor, U.S. News & World Report

"I cannot put Gene's new book down. He has done it again. His history of our tax policy over the last 30 years is thoughtful, incisive, stimulating, and quite readable. Whether your interest in the tax area is as an academic, an economist, a journalist, a policymaker, a practitioner, or a regulator, this is a must read."

—The Honorable Larry Gibbs
Former Commissioner of Internal Revenue

"The pre-eminent writer on public finance today brings us a succinct and thorough guide to the exigent yet contested social issue of tax policy. In his clear and compelling prose, Gene Steuerle masterfully reviews the history of endless 'reform' and offers prescriptions for the future. In unpacking the legislative and administrative process, he identifies the major players, their principles and ideologies, and the winners and losers. This practical volume is essential reading for policy makers as well as practitioners and students of economics, law, accounting, policy studies, and political science."

—Evelyn Brody
Professor of Law, Chicago-Kent College of Law

"This book demonstrates why Gene Steuerle is the country's foremost analyst of tax legislation. It lucidly explains why Congress continually tinkers with the tax code, and how their efforts rob the government of revenue and taxpayers of fairness. Steuerle is truly remarkable in bringing understanding and insight to this complicated area of public policy."

—Allen Schick
School of Public Affairs, University of Maryland

"Gene Steuerle's clear, concise analysis and ability to put tax law changes in historical perspective makes this book an essential part of any tax course with a policy component."

—Richard Sansing
Associate Professor of Business Administration, Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth

"This is an accessible and engrossing analysis of recent tax policy by an important participant in the process, full of useful facts and plenty of interesting anecdotes. The U.S. tax system's current state may be difficult to justify, but it will be easier to understand after one reads Steuerle's account of how and why things happened."

—Alan J. Auerbach
Robert D. Burch Professor of Economics and Law, Director, Burch Center for Tax Policy and Public Finance, University of California, Berkeley

"I think it fair to say that treasury I [the treasury proposal leading to the tax reform act of 1986] would not have moved forward had it not been for [Gene's] early leadership."
—Ronald A. Pearlman

former Assistant Secretary of The Treasury For Tax Policy and former Staff Director, Joint Committee on Taxation

"Had I not read [Gene's] work...there never would have been a presidential decision to double the personal exemption...the tax exemption portion [of the 1986 tax bill] is all due to [his] insightful analysis."

—Bruce Chapman
Director of the White House Office of Planning and Evaluation under President Reagan

---

Comments and questions may be
sent via email.