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Rebellion, Rascals, and Revenue: Tax Follies and Wisdom through the Ages
An engaging and enlightening account of taxation told through lively, dramatic, and sometimes ludicrous stories drawn from around the world and across the ages
Governments have always struggled to tax in ways that are effective and tolerably fair. Sometimes they fail grotesquely, as when, in 1898, the British ignited a rebellion in Sierra Leone by imposing a tax on huts--and, in repressing it, ended up burning the very huts they intended to tax. Sometimes they succeed astonishingly, as when, in eighteenth-century Britain, a cut in the tax on tea massively increased revenue. In this entertaining book, two leading authorities on taxation, Michael Keen and Joel Slemrod, provide a fascinating and informative tour through these and many other episodes in tax history, both preposterous and dramatic--from the plundering described by Herodotus and an Incan tax payable in lice to the (misremembered) Boston Tea Party and the scandals of the Panama Papers. Along the way, readers meet a colorful cast of tax rascals, and even a few tax heroes.
While it is hard to fathom the inspiration behind such taxes as one on ships that tended to make them sink, Keen and Slemrod show that yesterday's tax systems have more in common with ours than we may think. Georgian England's window tax now seems quaint, but was an ingenious way of judging wealth unobtrusively. And Tsar Peter the Great's tax on beards aimed to induce the nobility to shave, much like today's carbon taxes aim to slow global warming.
Rebellion, Rascals, and Revenue is a surprising and one-of-a-kind account of how history illuminates the perennial challenges and timeless principles of taxation--and how the past holds clues to solving the tax problems of today.
Governments have always struggled to tax in ways that are effective and tolerably fair. Sometimes they fail grotesquely, as when, in 1898, the British ignited a rebellion in Sierra Leone by imposing a tax on huts--and, in repressing it, ended up burning the very huts they intended to tax. Sometimes they succeed astonishingly, as when, in eighteenth-century Britain, a cut in the tax on tea massively increased revenue. In this entertaining book, two leading authorities on taxation, Michael Keen and Joel Slemrod, provide a fascinating and informative tour through these and many other episodes in tax history, both preposterous and dramatic--from the plundering described by Herodotus and an Incan tax payable in lice to the (misremembered) Boston Tea Party and the scandals of the Panama Papers. Along the way, readers meet a colorful cast of tax rascals, and even a few tax heroes.
While it is hard to fathom the inspiration behind such taxes as one on ships that tended to make them sink, Keen and Slemrod show that yesterday's tax systems have more in common with ours than we may think. Georgian England's window tax now seems quaint, but was an ingenious way of judging wealth unobtrusively. And Tsar Peter the Great's tax on beards aimed to induce the nobility to shave, much like today's carbon taxes aim to slow global warming.
Rebellion, Rascals, and Revenue is a surprising and one-of-a-kind account of how history illuminates the perennial challenges and timeless principles of taxation--and how the past holds clues to solving the tax problems of today.
536 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 6, 2021
107 people are currently reading
656 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
August 1, 2021
An enjoyable, insightful and encyclopedic romp through taxes over multiple millennia and multiple continents. Rebellion, Rascals, and Revenue is organized into parts that correspond to typical public finance concerns like incidence (who pays taxes), fairness (both "vertical" for people with different incomes and "horizontal" for people in similar situations), efficiency (particularly not changing desirable behaviors--but changing undesirable behaviors), and tax administration. The authors cover the role of taxes in various historical events (starting with the American Revolution), the ways that the "wisdom" of the ancients has continued to inform taxes today as authorities have struggled with the concerns for as long as we've had taxes--ideas about what was fair, finding markers associated with income or wealth, and how to encourage or discourage different behavior (although exactly what constitutes good behavior has changed over time, it is as hard for us to understand taxing beards as it would have been for Russians a few centuries ago to understand taxing carbon emissions).
May 15, 2021
OK book, doesn't go that deeply into the technicalities of how things work and the effects they have but is mostly about the funny stories that have arisen over the ages around taxation. Some of the logic the authors use is a bit shoddy, possibly because of the lack of depth in this book. It would've been interesting if they went into the apparently gendered nature of some taxes and what the effects are, but they only say that these effects 'exist' but don't explain what they are.
Overall a fine read but don't expect to learn much from it. There's no clear suggestions for how we can ensure taxes are dodged less for example.
Overall a fine read but don't expect to learn much from it. There's no clear suggestions for how we can ensure taxes are dodged less for example.
June 15, 2021
Far too heavy on tax historical anecdotes and with a too-frequent eye to things that may reflect negatively upon taxation as an institution, but certainly not anti-tax so much as desiring a Theory of Everything as it relates to taxation.
November 26, 2025
Read this book for an honors project as a junior for my advanced taxation class in college. Shoutout Dr. Birkey.
This book is a great exploration of the history and psychology of taxation. It is also as effective as at putting you to sleep as 500mg of melatonin (the dreams are not as fun).
This book is a great exploration of the history and psychology of taxation. It is also as effective as at putting you to sleep as 500mg of melatonin (the dreams are not as fun).
April 29, 2024
There will never be a truly “fair” tax system in the eyes of everyone, but there are definitely unique stories in history of attempts to create one.
March 9, 2022
This is hell of a historical ride! I loved it. It reminds me of Charles Adams’ book, For Good and Evil, which I also highly recommend. If you like the history of taxation, you’ll love this book. Taxes are older than the Rosetta Stone, dating back to Sumerian clay tablets from 2500 BCE that include receipts for tax payments. Man has taxed everything, from windows, hearths and wheels, to beards, tea, dogs, and huts, and much more. The authors explore winners and losers from taxation, as well as the rampant evasion and avoidance that it creates. The oldest profession isn’t what you think—it’s tax evasion! The authors end with eleven lessons that millennia of taxation teach us.
1. Tax revolts are rarely just about tax
2. Be careful with words (a misplaced comma in the law can cost or save millions of dollars!)
3. You may be the one paying for lunch—the incidence of the tax—who actually bears the burden—is not always clear, and not always spelled out in the law
4. Fair taxation, whatever that is, is hard to achieve
5. Taxation is about finding good proxies—for wealth, and other things that can be easily measured or proved in a court of law
6. Tax avoiders and evaders are wonderfully creative
7. The biggest costs of taxation may be the ones you can’t see—the “excess burden” imposed may distort economic activity and lessen individual well-being
8. Taxes are not just for raising money—to lessen externalities, or discourage sin (liquor, cigarette taxes)
9. People pay taxes because they are scared
10. Tax sovereignty is becoming a thing of the past—as companies and wealth goes global, how should nations tax. This is dealt with in the book in some detail
11. Beware of mantras—“business should pay its fair share,” “tax where value is created,” “the wealthy need to pay a higher rate than the secretary,” most are merely vacuous.
At over 500 pages, this is not a light read, but it is thoroughly enjoyable if you have an interest in taxes. And who doesn’t? We all pay them. I’ve always admired the works of Joel Slemrod, he is a true tax scholar. And even though I don’t agree with him ideologically, I have learned much from him. Thank you Mr. Slemrod for writing such an excellent and fun book on a complex topic.
1. Tax revolts are rarely just about tax
2. Be careful with words (a misplaced comma in the law can cost or save millions of dollars!)
3. You may be the one paying for lunch—the incidence of the tax—who actually bears the burden—is not always clear, and not always spelled out in the law
4. Fair taxation, whatever that is, is hard to achieve
5. Taxation is about finding good proxies—for wealth, and other things that can be easily measured or proved in a court of law
6. Tax avoiders and evaders are wonderfully creative
7. The biggest costs of taxation may be the ones you can’t see—the “excess burden” imposed may distort economic activity and lessen individual well-being
8. Taxes are not just for raising money—to lessen externalities, or discourage sin (liquor, cigarette taxes)
9. People pay taxes because they are scared
10. Tax sovereignty is becoming a thing of the past—as companies and wealth goes global, how should nations tax. This is dealt with in the book in some detail
11. Beware of mantras—“business should pay its fair share,” “tax where value is created,” “the wealthy need to pay a higher rate than the secretary,” most are merely vacuous.
At over 500 pages, this is not a light read, but it is thoroughly enjoyable if you have an interest in taxes. And who doesn’t? We all pay them. I’ve always admired the works of Joel Slemrod, he is a true tax scholar. And even though I don’t agree with him ideologically, I have learned much from him. Thank you Mr. Slemrod for writing such an excellent and fun book on a complex topic.
October 3, 2021
A well-crafted and modernly significant read. Highly, highly recommend.
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Taxes continue to be a dominant part of our modern lives and by focusing on their history we can make the best decisions for both ourselves, and future generations to come. On this point alone this book should be required reading for anyone interested in the public debate. You will be both entertained and enlightened on many of the successes and failures of our ancestors while also building upon your understanding of what taxes are both in theory and practice.
The author’s bring a light tone and a grabbing attention to detail on some of history’s strangest and most entertaining taxing tales. The ability to blend both modern pop-culture references with historic events allows readers to empathize with the struggles of our distant ancestors, while also highlighting the time-told truth that history will forever repeat itself. The careful consideration to how the information is structured allows even those with little prior knowledge to quickly fill any gaps in their understanding, while also offering a smooth flow for easy comprehension.
-
Taxes continue to be a dominant part of our modern lives and by focusing on their history we can make the best decisions for both ourselves, and future generations to come. On this point alone this book should be required reading for anyone interested in the public debate. You will be both entertained and enlightened on many of the successes and failures of our ancestors while also building upon your understanding of what taxes are both in theory and practice.
The author’s bring a light tone and a grabbing attention to detail on some of history’s strangest and most entertaining taxing tales. The ability to blend both modern pop-culture references with historic events allows readers to empathize with the struggles of our distant ancestors, while also highlighting the time-told truth that history will forever repeat itself. The careful consideration to how the information is structured allows even those with little prior knowledge to quickly fill any gaps in their understanding, while also offering a smooth flow for easy comprehension.
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December 7, 2021REBELLION, RASCALS, & REVENUE: Tax follies and wisdom through the ages | Michael Keen & Joel Slemrod, Princeton University Press, 511.
Accomplishing the impossible, this pair of authors make a 500-page treatise on the history, approach, and impact of taxation entertaining, densely informative.
This tome marches through well-organized historical vignettes of approaches to taxation from ancient times to the present; with the vast majority of material focused on the past 400 years.
The book covers amongst many follies those of taxing windows as a proxy for wealth, bachelorhood to discourage it, the longstanding tax on communities as a whole, and weaves in lessons from today’s VAT and consumption taxes.
You’ll learn figures from Thomas Paine to Adam Smith spent time as tax collectors while making a case against their abuse. Along with tales of murder and mayhem intertwined with tax policy.
For the pair of authors - academics and tax analysts - this books was a labor of passion. But they produced a historical framework that should be encouraged reading for high school students and mandatory review by every officeholder.
Accomplishing the impossible, this pair of authors make a 500-page treatise on the history, approach, and impact of taxation entertaining, densely informative.
This tome marches through well-organized historical vignettes of approaches to taxation from ancient times to the present; with the vast majority of material focused on the past 400 years.
The book covers amongst many follies those of taxing windows as a proxy for wealth, bachelorhood to discourage it, the longstanding tax on communities as a whole, and weaves in lessons from today’s VAT and consumption taxes.
You’ll learn figures from Thomas Paine to Adam Smith spent time as tax collectors while making a case against their abuse. Along with tales of murder and mayhem intertwined with tax policy.
For the pair of authors - academics and tax analysts - this books was a labor of passion. But they produced a historical framework that should be encouraged reading for high school students and mandatory review by every officeholder.
January 3, 2023
An entertaining look through the history of taxation—how taxes (and the ways people go about evading taxes) have evolved. Unsurprisingly, war has played an important role in tax evolution, as countries have looked for new revenue sources to pay for conflict (see the income tax in the US and UK). Through examples, the authors show the ways that taxes can distort private behavior and explain why when contemplating the cost of taxes, policymakers should not only include the cost of paying the taxes but also the distortions it introduces in the system. Take the window tax for example. Britain’s window tax policy was designed as a progressive stand-in for income (with richer people being able to afford more windows and so more taxes). However, the window tax resulted in people boarding up windows to avoid taxes and so reduced airflow in houses with public health effects and decreased people’s utility. Tax policy, like all policymaking, is a balancing game—how to raise enough revenue while balancing considerations like taxes’ effect on the poor, on businesses, and on other policy goals (e.g., public health, safety, the environment, etc.). Death and taxes, forever and ever
July 10, 2021
A fantastically well written book on what many would consider a dry subject. Even my hero David Foster Wallace said that taxation was very dull in his unfinished book The Pale King. But this is an absolutely riveting account of a fantastic field filled with human inquiry and surprisingly accessible economic analysis. I had read in another review that this book really can convey complicated economic concepts such as excess burden and economic rents, in a readable and digestible way. I palatably enjoyed all of the humor and eccentricity in this book.
Anyone interested in tax policy or tax history or even the economic effects of tax rules should certainly give this book a chance!
I could hardly put this book down!
Anyone interested in tax policy or tax history or even the economic effects of tax rules should certainly give this book a chance!
I could hardly put this book down!
August 16, 2024
A fun romp through the history of tax.
Tax and page turner do not often go together but for me I kept wanting to read on and read this book in ten days.
Not only is the book full of interesting quirks in the tax system but the economic knowledge shown by the authors is sound.
If you are English you probably know of the window tax and maybe regard it as an anachronism. However, do you know why it was a sensible tax? why it was progressive? What the costs (both to the Treasury and to the people) of the tax were? And did you know that the tax was sensible enough to be copied by other nations. All these issues and many more are covered in this book.
Tax and page turner do not often go together but for me I kept wanting to read on and read this book in ten days.
Not only is the book full of interesting quirks in the tax system but the economic knowledge shown by the authors is sound.
If you are English you probably know of the window tax and maybe regard it as an anachronism. However, do you know why it was a sensible tax? why it was progressive? What the costs (both to the Treasury and to the people) of the tax were? And did you know that the tax was sensible enough to be copied by other nations. All these issues and many more are covered in this book.
November 25, 2024
A surprisingly entertaining history of tax policy and revenue collection.
From ancient tax farming to Putin's flat income tax, there have been a lot of interesting innovations in tax collection and here Keen and Slemrod turn it into a very entertaining, but also informative book.
Slemrod has previously won an IgNobel prize for his work on how estate taxes can influence mortality, and this book contains a lot of similar observations. But it is also a serious treatise on topics like 'excess burden' elasticity and non-distortionary tax designs.
The book strikes a rare compromise being both informative and entertaining.
From ancient tax farming to Putin's flat income tax, there have been a lot of interesting innovations in tax collection and here Keen and Slemrod turn it into a very entertaining, but also informative book.
Slemrod has previously won an IgNobel prize for his work on how estate taxes can influence mortality, and this book contains a lot of similar observations. But it is also a serious treatise on topics like 'excess burden' elasticity and non-distortionary tax designs.
The book strikes a rare compromise being both informative and entertaining.
December 18, 2025
4.5 stars. A popular-audience book on the economics of taxation written by two leading micro public finance scholars (packed with humorous case studies), covering tax system evolution, optimal tax principles, tax incidence, and the fight between tax enforcement and evasion. The language is witty and easy to read, yet the content remains academically rigorous—very suitable as an undergraduate introduction. My only gripe is that it tries so hard to be accessible that the chapter and section headings are somewhat confusing.
4.5星。两个微观财税研究大佬写的税收经济学通俗书（超多幽默案例版），基本涵盖了税制演变，最优税制原理，税负归宿，税收征管等方方面面。语言通俗幽默好读，但内容不失严谨，非常适合本科生入门阅读。就是有点太过追求通俗了以至于章节大小标题让人摸不着头脑
4.5星。两个微观财税研究大佬写的税收经济学通俗书（超多幽默案例版），基本涵盖了税制演变，最优税制原理，税负归宿，税收征管等方方面面。语言通俗幽默好读，但内容不失严谨，非常适合本科生入门阅读。就是有点太过追求通俗了以至于章节大小标题让人摸不着头脑
February 24, 2024
A partial history of taxation, with a focus on anecdotes about successes and failures of tax schemes, and a fair amount of information about the advantages and disadvantages of various tax systems. There's a great deal of information here, but presented in a scattershot fashion which makes it difficult to focus on the historical narrative. The later chapters become more systematic if less amusing.
December 28, 2022
brilliantly researched and written in a hybrid of academic and conversational style; predicated on the North American notion that all taxes are perceived as irksome by taxpayers; very global coverage; very useful and entertaining history categorised on incidence, purpose and burden rather than a chronology; an excellent contribution to the field
May 14, 2022
If you’re someone who enjoys follies and learning little background stories, then you will love this book! Some parts kind of dragged on or got a little difficult to understand, but I found most of the book extremely interesting and fascinating.
July 27, 2022
This is an entertaining account of how taxation has played a role over centuries and how it evolved over time. This is one of the rare books that present the topic of taxation with much excitement. I will be recommending this book to my students of Public Finance.
May 20, 2025
Okay, I feel like this is absolutely not for everyone. But I found it hilarious and so interesting. Definitely keep Google nearby when reading though, there were so many historical events and individuals I had to look up.
Currently reading
July 2, 2024Chapter 2 - The way we were
August 17, 2024
An excellent book with a lot of great antidotes on a wide variety of topics relating to taxes!
August 11, 2025
Didn't realise a book about tax could be such fun...
September 13, 2025
A collection of weird tax-related anecdotes mixed with an Econ 101 discussion of tax policy? It’s fine, not great but fine
December 22, 2025
A fun romp of a book if you are interested in taxes and econ, which I am.
December 1, 2024
Michael Keen and Joel Slemrod’s Rebellion, Rascals, and Revenue is an entertaining and insightful journey through the history of taxation, blending historical anecdotes with foundational lessons in tax economics and policy. Avoiding the dense graphs and jargon typical of public finance textbooks, the authors instead illuminate complex ideas with vivid, often humorous examples, making the book both accessible and intellectually rewarding.
*Lessons Through History*
The book begins by tracing taxation’s origins, starting with one of the earliest forms of revenue extraction: plundering others' resources. Over time, societies shifted to taxing their own citizens, a more sustainable solution that required the development of sophisticated systems.
Keen and Slemrod illustrate the perennial challenges of tax design early in the book using the example of Britain’s window tax. Intended as a proxy for wealth—windows being visible and countable—it led to absurd consequences, including bricked-up windows that deprived homes of natural light. “The window tax…illustrates the key challenges that are at the heart of the tax-design problem: the quest for tolerable fairness, the wasteful behavioural responses that the tax induces, and the desire to administer a tax cost effectively and non-intrusively.”
*Taxes as Coercion*
A central theme is the equivalence between taxation and other coercive state actions. The authors explore how governments historically raised revenue by auctioning rights to resources, instituting monopolies, or imposing forced labor and conscription. These examples underscore taxation’s place within a broader spectrum of state-led resource extraction, emphasising its role as both a tool of governance and an exercise of power.
*The Principle of Ability to Pay*
The ability-to-pay principle is a key principle for thinking about the design of any tax system. A lump-sum tax on all individuals is not fair because a poor person is required to pay the same as a rich person. The book invokes many historical examples of trying to get a good proxy for ability to pay. Income is widely considered a fair bases for taxation today. But authorities have previously taxed by class, evoking a Jane Austen society, where moving up the social hierarchy came with tax obligations as well as prestige. Community-based taxation, as practiced in colonial Vietnam, leveraged local knowledge: villages were collectively responsible for quotas, with wealthier members incentivised to contribute to avoid punitive measures. Taxes on luxury goods and the rise of income tax illustrate the progression toward a more systematic alignment between tax burdens and economic well-being. Income tax, in particular, has emerged as a modern proxy for ability to pay, albeit with persistent debates over fairness and efficiency.
*Tax Burdens and Behavioral Distortions*
Keen and Slemrod adeptly demonstrate how taxation often deviates from its intended effects. The rhetoric surrounding a tax rarely aligns with its actual burden: whether social security contributions are levied on employers or employees, for example, is largely irrelevant, as market forces determine who bears the cost. Meanwhile, poorly designed taxes can induce costly behavioral distortions, as illustrated by British shipbuilders, who built dangerously tall ships to avoid length- and width-based levies. These unintended consequences—what economists call “excess burden”—underscore the delicate balance required in tax design.
*Tax Administration: Lessons in Innovation*
The book also delves into the mechanics of tax administration, offering real-world examples of clever policies that reduce evasion and improve compliance. Some of my favourites included 19th century New Zealand where the government employed a unique land tax mechanism, allowing the government to purchase undervalued properties at a premium, encouraging accurate declarations. In Sweden, buyers of home renovations pay only half of the labor cost directly to the supplier, with the remainder going to the government. The supplier must recoup the other half of his money owing by making himself known to the tax authority.
*Conclusion*
Rebellion, Rascals, and Revenue is a delightful blend of history, economics, and public policy. By pairing vivid historical narratives with thoughtful economic insights, Keen and Slemrod bring the complexities of taxation to life, making abstract principles tangible and relatable. This book is a treasure trove for anyone curious about the oddities and wisdoms of tax systems across the ages. Whether you’re a policymaker, an economist, or simply a fascinated reader, it offers a fresh perspective on an age-old subject. Taxation has never been so engaging—or so enlightening.
Note, this is the first review I have written with the assistance of AI.
*Lessons Through History*
The book begins by tracing taxation’s origins, starting with one of the earliest forms of revenue extraction: plundering others' resources. Over time, societies shifted to taxing their own citizens, a more sustainable solution that required the development of sophisticated systems.
Keen and Slemrod illustrate the perennial challenges of tax design early in the book using the example of Britain’s window tax. Intended as a proxy for wealth—windows being visible and countable—it led to absurd consequences, including bricked-up windows that deprived homes of natural light. “The window tax…illustrates the key challenges that are at the heart of the tax-design problem: the quest for tolerable fairness, the wasteful behavioural responses that the tax induces, and the desire to administer a tax cost effectively and non-intrusively.”
*Taxes as Coercion*
A central theme is the equivalence between taxation and other coercive state actions. The authors explore how governments historically raised revenue by auctioning rights to resources, instituting monopolies, or imposing forced labor and conscription. These examples underscore taxation’s place within a broader spectrum of state-led resource extraction, emphasising its role as both a tool of governance and an exercise of power.
*The Principle of Ability to Pay*
The ability-to-pay principle is a key principle for thinking about the design of any tax system. A lump-sum tax on all individuals is not fair because a poor person is required to pay the same as a rich person. The book invokes many historical examples of trying to get a good proxy for ability to pay. Income is widely considered a fair bases for taxation today. But authorities have previously taxed by class, evoking a Jane Austen society, where moving up the social hierarchy came with tax obligations as well as prestige. Community-based taxation, as practiced in colonial Vietnam, leveraged local knowledge: villages were collectively responsible for quotas, with wealthier members incentivised to contribute to avoid punitive measures. Taxes on luxury goods and the rise of income tax illustrate the progression toward a more systematic alignment between tax burdens and economic well-being. Income tax, in particular, has emerged as a modern proxy for ability to pay, albeit with persistent debates over fairness and efficiency.
*Tax Burdens and Behavioral Distortions*
Keen and Slemrod adeptly demonstrate how taxation often deviates from its intended effects. The rhetoric surrounding a tax rarely aligns with its actual burden: whether social security contributions are levied on employers or employees, for example, is largely irrelevant, as market forces determine who bears the cost. Meanwhile, poorly designed taxes can induce costly behavioral distortions, as illustrated by British shipbuilders, who built dangerously tall ships to avoid length- and width-based levies. These unintended consequences—what economists call “excess burden”—underscore the delicate balance required in tax design.
*Tax Administration: Lessons in Innovation*
The book also delves into the mechanics of tax administration, offering real-world examples of clever policies that reduce evasion and improve compliance. Some of my favourites included 19th century New Zealand where the government employed a unique land tax mechanism, allowing the government to purchase undervalued properties at a premium, encouraging accurate declarations. In Sweden, buyers of home renovations pay only half of the labor cost directly to the supplier, with the remainder going to the government. The supplier must recoup the other half of his money owing by making himself known to the tax authority.
*Conclusion*
Rebellion, Rascals, and Revenue is a delightful blend of history, economics, and public policy. By pairing vivid historical narratives with thoughtful economic insights, Keen and Slemrod bring the complexities of taxation to life, making abstract principles tangible and relatable. This book is a treasure trove for anyone curious about the oddities and wisdoms of tax systems across the ages. Whether you’re a policymaker, an economist, or simply a fascinated reader, it offers a fresh perspective on an age-old subject. Taxation has never been so engaging—or so enlightening.
Note, this is the first review I have written with the assistance of AI.
May 22, 2025
An entertaining and fairly comprehensive overview of the basic principles of public finance, illustrated by an impressively broad array of examples from the history of taxation. While the stated modest goal is merely to provide a collection of amusing anecdotes (and the book could serve that purpose for anyone looking to liven up an undergraduate economics class), and organized thematically by tax principles, the stories add up to a reasonably clear picture of the history of taxation in the UK, US, and to a lesser extent Europe and the rest of the world. Through these stories they illustrate the evolution of tax systems from medieval origins through to contemporary issues and make clear the economic, political, and intellectual circumstances that have constrained that evolution. This historical context provides not just illustrations of principles, but an argument for the relevance or otherwise of certain factors, emphasizing in particular administrative and political constraints and path dependence as well as more standard "economic" principles. Had this been a more historically oriented text I would have hoped for more material on China, a rich source of fiscal ideas and practices, but the themes are well enough served even with a limited scope.
The style of analysis is a mix of undergrad econ (a lot of supply and demand and revealed preference arguments) combined with applied micro empirics. Macro issues, while discussed and explained clearly when relevant, are mostly treated as speculative: the section on optimal taxes has a funny bit that apologizes for trying to explain Mirrlees (but does a pretty good job), and the section on incidence ends basically with a shrug and "it's complicated" on full general-equilibrium based calculations. While this is probably fair assessment on what is truly reliably known, it does cast a little bit of doubt on what we can say about desirability of untried systems. This includes, potentially, the tax reform ideas advocated towards the end of the book, which, while seemingly sensible incremental deviations from existing practice, might wisely be taken with a grain of the same salt which one is inclined to pour quite liberally on the more radical proposals of more idealistic tax theorists. The book also acknowledges the fuzziness of the line between tax and any other aspect of government, which is understandable to keep the scope manageable. As is, it covers quite a lot of ground clearly and entertainingly, and it belongs on the shelf, and possibly syllabus, of anyone studying taxes.
The style of analysis is a mix of undergrad econ (a lot of supply and demand and revealed preference arguments) combined with applied micro empirics. Macro issues, while discussed and explained clearly when relevant, are mostly treated as speculative: the section on optimal taxes has a funny bit that apologizes for trying to explain Mirrlees (but does a pretty good job), and the section on incidence ends basically with a shrug and "it's complicated" on full general-equilibrium based calculations. While this is probably fair assessment on what is truly reliably known, it does cast a little bit of doubt on what we can say about desirability of untried systems. This includes, potentially, the tax reform ideas advocated towards the end of the book, which, while seemingly sensible incremental deviations from existing practice, might wisely be taken with a grain of the same salt which one is inclined to pour quite liberally on the more radical proposals of more idealistic tax theorists. The book also acknowledges the fuzziness of the line between tax and any other aspect of government, which is understandable to keep the scope manageable. As is, it covers quite a lot of ground clearly and entertainingly, and it belongs on the shelf, and possibly syllabus, of anyone studying taxes.
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews