This book is about how much people earn and why the distribution of earnings has been changing over time. The gap between the top and bottom in the United States has widened significantly since 1980. Why has this happened? Is it due to new technologies? What is the role of globalisation? Are there historical precedents?
The book begins with the "race" between technology and education, and shows that continuing technical progress does not necessarily imply a continuing rise in dispersion. It then examines the experience of 20 OECD countries over the twentieth century, material presented in the form of 20 country case studies. The book breaks new ground in assembling data on the distribution of individual earnings covering much of the twentieth century and drawing on a variety of under-exploited sources.
The findings overturn a number of widely-held beliefs. It is not the earnings of the low paid that have been most affected by the recent changes; widening is largely due to what is happening at the top. The recent rise in earnings dispersion is not unprecedented, but should be seen as part of a longer-run history of successive compression and expansion of earnings differences.

China's stunning record of economic development since the 1970s has been marred by an increasingly obvious gap between the country's 'haves' and its 'have-nots'. While people living in some parts of the country have enjoyed dramatically improved conditions of life, those in other districts and regions have slipped ever further behind in terms of access to health, wealth, education, security and opportunity.

Paying for Progress in China is a collection of essays which trace the causes of this growing inequality, using new data including surveys, interviews, newly available official statistics and in-depth fieldwork. Their findings expose the malfunctioning of China's 'broken' intergovernmental fiscal system, which has exacerbated the disequalizing effects of emerging market forces. Whilst the government's deliberately 'pro-poor' development policies have in recent years sought to reduce the gap between rich and poor, both markets, and also state institutions and policies, are continuing to create perverse equity outcomes across the country, confounding hopes for better-balanced and more inclusive growth in China.

The interdisciplinary approach of this collection, incorporating work by economists, sociologists and political scientists, makes it a valuable resource for students of contemporary Chinese political economy and social development.

The economic demands of an ageing population, coupled with the crisis of public spending pose one of the greatest challenges to social policy in both the East and West. This book focuses on the political economy of pensions, particularly on the interaction between private and state provision. Enterprise and the Welfare State argues that there is more to welfare than simply provision by the state and so the focus of this book is on the welfare society rather than the welfare state. This requires a new system of statistical accounting and a different focus for case studies. A multidisciplinary approach is used to examine the design of the pensions system in nine countries with different institutional welfare mixes. Using a common conceptual framework, it compares and contrasts the goals and realities of the welfare systems in France, Germany, The Netherlands and Sweden, where strong occupational pensions are in operation, with the more modest welfare states in Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States. Each country case study provides a grounded analysis of the evolution of pension design and traces the impact of the policies on the economic well-being of the aged and the performance of the economy. It offers new data on the level of spending of enterprise based occupational pensions and examines the implications for redistribution resulting from changes in the design of state and occupational pensions. This book will be essential reading for academics, students and public policymakers interested in the economics of welfare, social policy and the future of pension provision.

This insightful book examines the necessary conditions for the successful initiation and consolidation of unpopular economic reforms. Drawing on the burgeoning literature in the area of policy reform, it features a comparative analysis of fiscal reform in Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic at different stages of the post-communist transformation. This analysis demonstrates that a significant number of the national differences in fiscal reform can be attributed to differences in political constraints. It also reveals that these very constraints change in the course of transformation and have become increasingly similar to the 'standard' restrictions which exist in the traditional EU and OECD countries. This in-depth analysis of the changing role of political determinants in post-communist fiscal reform will strongly appeal to economists and political scientists interested in the political economy of policy reform, post-communist economic transformation and the role of international organizations (IMF, EU) in shaping domestic policy-making. Policy analysts interested in fiscal reform in Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic will also find much to interest them in this book.

Fiscal policy has always been a primary measure of macroeconomic control. The fiscal revenue and expenditure can influence the operation of the whole economic and social activities by changing the existing GDP distribution pattern, affecting the consumption and investment of enterprises and people, etc. Within the framework of macroeconomic analysis, this book reviews the evolution of China's fiscal policy, and the main changes China's economy has experienced since 1990s. To begin with, it makes an empirical research of China's national debts, including their relationship with macroeconomic regulation and total social demand. Besides, it examines the economic effect mechanism of national debts issuance. Then it focuses on the taxation issues, elucidating the sources of tax revenue growth and the judgments on tax burden. The issue of tax reduction is also covered, especially its complexity in China. Lastly, it provides insights into China's fiscal tendency, changes of macroeconomic policies, and financial operation in the context of the "New Normal". Scholars and students in economics, finance and Chinese economic studies will be attracted by this book. Also, it will appeal to readers interested in modern Chinese economic history.

The Learning Annex Presents Small Business Basics
If you're a small business owner, you probably dedicate the majority of your time to the day-to-day activities that keep your company up and running. After all, why should you have to worry about taxes or other financial issues when you can hire someone else to handle them? The answer is simple: you, not your accountant or financial advisor, run the business. And if you truly want to be successful, you need to understand how your actions in business today can affect your bottom line tomorrow.
If you want to make more tax-efficient financial decisions for your business, The Learning Annex Presents Small Business Basics can show you how. This accessible guide provides useful and authoritative advice that will help you save time and money throughout the year.
Topics discussed include:
* Organizing your business--from S Corporations and C Corporations to Sole Proprietorships and Limited Liability Companies
* Income and losses--from business operations to the sale of business property
* Business deductions and credits--from home office deductions and advertising expenses to rent and retirement plans

As a small business owner, each decision you make is important. With The Learning Annex Presents Small Business Basics as your guide, you'll quickly discover how to make tax-savvy decisions that will improve your overall business.

The book brings together internationally respected specialists from economics, history and political science such as Harold James, Louis Pauly and Kenneth Moure. First providing a short history of money doctors, the book then goes on to cover such themes as:
*the IMF and policy advice
*the Russian experience
*contemporary money doctors.
The book shows that there is still a long way to go before international financial advice develops into something that is truly helpful in the long term.

"Sensible Tax Reform Simple, Just and Effective" ("STR") offers a truly revolutionary approach to tax reform.
-Businesses will be untaxed. -Social Security and Medicare will receive much stronger financial backing.-Most individuals will no longer pay any income taxes. -Estates will no longer be taxed. -A simple broad-based federal consumption tax will be introduced as the foundation of our tax system. -The consumption tax will apply to most expenditures by individuals but will provide critical buffers to ease the impact upon healthcare, housing, transportation, and higher education. -STR" will replace the existing tax mess we all hate with a simple, just, and economically dynamic tax system that will reinvigorate American businesses, greatly increase the real income and purchasing power of most Americans, and stabilize the finances of the federal government."

In this 30th volume of Advances in Taxation, editor John Hasseldine includes studies from expert contributors to explore topics such as: the stock market reaction to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act; strategic repatriations made by firms; and corporate social responsibility and tax planning. Three studies separately examine individual responses to taxation including the renunciation of U.S. citizenship due to the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, the imposition of a tax on sugar-sweetened beverages, and the effects of social media on tax compliance in a developing country. Reporting peer-reviewed research contributions from the U.S., Canada, and Malaysia Advances in Taxation Volume 30 is essential reading for those looking to keep abreast of the most recent research, including empirical studies using a variety of research methods from different institutional settings and contexts

This book examines the present status, recent tax reforms and planned tax policies in some South and East Asia countries since the 1990s. The evidence is presented in a user friendly manner, but at the same time uses technically sophisticated methods. The main countries studied are China, India, Japan, Malaysia, South Korea and Thailand.

It is unique for being the first systematic treatment of the topic: hitherto, the information available has been widely dispersed and difficult to access. It should prove to be a natural companion to two previous books on taxation published by Routledge and also edited by Luigi Bernardi.

The "Theory of Macrojustice", introduced by S.-C. Kolm, is a stimulating contribution to the debate on the macroeconomic income distribution. The solution called "Equal Labour Income Equalisation" (ELIE) is the result of a three stages construction: collective agreement on the scheme of labour income redistribution, collective agreement on the degree of equalisation to be chosen in that framework, individual freedom to exploit his--her personal productive capicities (the source of labour income and the sole basis for taxation). This book is organised as a discussion around four complementary themes: philosophical aspects of macrojustice, economic analysis of macrojustice, combination of ELIE with other targeted tranfers, econometric evaluations of ELIE.

EG Council Tax Handbook is a timely publication. The text is easy to understand and very comprehensive. This volume helps to define the council tax in various contexts.

"I wrote this book because I believe the road to financial freedom is a journey everyone can embark on. I wrote this book with you in mind. You, who perhaps have never been taught anything about how money works. You, who have been too intimidated to pick up and read a book about personal finance because you were too scared of the jargon. You, who want to #getyourmoneyright. I had you in mind when I wrote this book." – Mapalo Makhu

If you are a millennial who is trying to figure out how money works, this book is for you. With simple, relatable and sometimes amusing stories about how to manage money on a day-to-day basis, you will learn how to change your mindset about money, get out of debt and stay debt-free, invest your money and, ultimately, live your best life.

You’re Not Broke, You’re Pre-Rich will help you, the young professional, to think differently about money, while covering pertinent topics like black tax, savings, budgeting, emergency funds and financial scams, as well as estate and retirement planning (and why you should care right now!). It is the best class you never attended… in a book!

Building on the work carried out in the 2004 Routledge book, Tax Systems and Tax Reforms in Europe, an international team of contributors now turn their attention to the new EU member states. The book compares conditions in the new and potential EU Member states to those in the long-standing EU countries. Topics covered include:

* A Comparative View of Taxation in the EU and in New Members
* Tax Policy in EU New Members
* Tax Policy in New Members under the Stability Pact
* Tax Administration and the Black Economy.

As well as investigating countries such as the Czech Republic, Estonia and the Baltics, Hungary, Poland and Slovenia, this outstanding book contains a foreword by Vito Tanzi and will be a valuable resource for postgraduates and professionals in the fields of economics, politics, finance and European studies.

This volume provides a splendid and wide-ranging collection of studies analyzing the political-economy of decentralization in Latin-America. It's a fascinating story with numerous and profound insights into how fiscal decentralization actually works in the context of a variety of fiscal institutions and in a setting with a high degree of inequality in the distribution of income and territorial disparities.' - Wallace E. Oates, University of Maryland, College Park US'The volume on Decentralization and Reform in Latin America is an important addition to the growing literature on decentralization. Some of the issues in the implementation and effectiveness of decentralization are similar all over the world, but there are issues of particular salience to Latin America, a region where decentralization reforms have come sometimes in the wake of major political reforms. This volume pays special attention to the complexity of issues (both relating to equity and efficiency) arising in the context of vertical fiscal imbalance and inter-governmental transfers, in the delivery of social services or investment spending, in the sharing of rent from natural resources among social and regional groups and in macro-fiscal stabilization. I expect the volume to receive widespread attention.' - Pranab Bhardan, University of California, Berkeley, US 'Giorgio Brosio and Juan Pablo Jimenez have made a remarkable job in preparing the best comprehensive treatment of comparative decentralization experiences in Latin America. It will be essential reading for analysts of fiscal and local government issues in the region and a very useful tool for Latin Americanists in general.' - Jose Antonio Ocampo, Professor, Columbia University. Former Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean and Finance Minister of Colombia Decentralisation and Reform in Latin America analyzes the process of intergovernmental reform in Latin America in the last two decades and presents a number of emerging issues. These include the impacts of decentralization and the response of countries in the region to challenge such as social cohesion, interregional and interpersonal disparities, the assignment of social and infrastructure expenditure, macrofinancial shocks, fiscal rules and the sharing of natural resources revenue. The main aim of the book is to assess the effective working of decentralized arrangements and institutions, with a view of suggesting corrections and reforms where the system is not working according to expectations. Policymakers, researchers and academics with an interest in subjects related to public policy, fiscal rules, intergovernmental relations, governance and decentralization will find this book invaluable. Contributors include: J.R. Afonso, E. Ahmad, V. Almeida, G. Arballo, G. Brosio, K. Castro, O. Cetrangolo, S. Dain, L. de Mello, A. Faveret, R. Gargarella, A. Goldschmit, J.C. Gomez Sabaini, V. Grembi, J.P. Jimenez, A. Manoel, J. Martinez-Vasquez, F. Rezende, C. Sepulveda, T. Ter-Minassian, J. Veloso

This study, first published in 1994, examines an important issue, the repeal of the thirty percent withholding tax imposed by the US on interest payments to non-resident alien individuals and foreign corporations, that is emblematic of the US quest for foreign capital in the 1980s. It presents an interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary analytical approach to show how important the access to foreign capital had become on the eve of the US turning into a debtor nation.

Economists studying comparative economic systems have generally neglected the important question of taxation in socialist countries. This is somewhat surprising since taxation plays an important role in the regulation of economic activity in these countries. This book, first published in 1985, aims to restore the study of taxation to its rightful role in comparative economic studies. It stresses the importance of taxation and the state budget and argues that these are tools of economic policy which complement central economic planning.

This title was first published in 2003. India's tax revenues depend on manufacturing while agriculture and services generate employment. WTO's Uruguay and Doha rounds imply large tariff cuts. This affects the competitiveness of the Indian manufacturing sector and has implications for government deficits. Excessive dependence on indirect taxes and subsidies to regulate markets introduces distortions and is incompatible with free market principles. The book analyses welfare implications of fiscal and trade policies for India. To put the results in perspective, developments in trade theory, public finance and Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) modelling are covered. Theoretical results are juxtaposed with empirical findings from these models. Methodology to construct CGE models is also covered. The trade model covers tariff cuts under various assumptions besides incorporating "new trade theory". As tax reforms and tariff cuts are independent, past tax reforms like MODVAT (MODified VAT) and proposed reforms like VAT, elimination/reduction of subsidies are covered using a separate tax model.

This book, first published in 1985, investigates the enactment of the federal income tax as a case study of an important Progressive Era reform. It was a critical issue that likely divided people along socioeconomic lines, thus helping to provide insight into the debate over the 'class origins' of the reformist movement.

Entitlements represent one of the largest and fastest-growing portions of the federal budget. They are regarded as sacrosanct by lawmakers, yet many people see them as one of the greatest threats to the American Dream. T his volume argues that by sacrificing the future in order to pay ever-larger federal benefits through programs such as Social Security, Medicare, and federal pensions, entitlement spending has become a crushing burden to American workers. Peterson and Howe destroy myths surrounding entitlement spending. They show that the bulk of it does not go to the poor. The majority of the elderly are not needy and dependent. Entitlement programs, not defense spending, consume the largest share of the federal budget. In short, we cannot balance the budget without reducing entitlement spending. In a country that demands critical investments--improving public education, alleviating poverty, increasing professional opportunity--growth in entitlement spending is unaffordable. "On Borrowed Time" is an important and timely book that will be mandatory reading for policymakers, politicians, economists, and a general public concerned with its financial future.

This book, first published in 1971, presents an analysis of the taxes levied on wealth or capital - death duties, annual wealth taxes and capital gains taxes. It provides a comprehensive study of these taxes, and recommends a series of measures, including the replacement of certain taxes, that would promote equality. The book also provides a masterly historical summary of death duties in the UK.

This work, first published in 1913, deals with the causes which led to the imposition of the various taxes which were levied down to and including the first income tax act (1799). Indeed, for an understanding of the system of taxation of the nineteenth century a knowledge of that which preceded it is necessary. The author begins by an explanation of the Tudor and Stuart finances before the time of the civil war at which point the break-down of the former system, as well as the need for a much larger revenue, resulted in important changes in the method of taxation.

The period between 1767 and 1873 shaped public finance in Britain (and, by extension, many other countries) as we know it today, with the major economists of the time providing influential contributions. Until now, no book has examined and compared the thought of these 'classical economists' from the perspective of public finance rather than that of pure theory.

This groundbreaking volume critically analyzes and compares the writings on government expenditure, taxation and public debt of thinkers such as Adam Smith, Jeremy Bentham, David Ricardo and Thomas Malthus. These key figures are united by their struggles with fiscal theory - an important feature in the formation and development of political economy.

An original and intriguing read, this book breathes fresh life into the history of economic thought. Dome's clear and exciting arguments will make for essential reading for historians of economic thought, economic historians and those with an interest in public finance.