Federal Taxation in America: A History

This authoritative and readable survey is a comprehensive historical overview of federal taxation and fiscal policy in the United States, extending from the era of the American Revolution to the present day. Brownlee relates the principal stages of federal taxation to the crises that led to their adoption, including but not limited to: the formation of the republic, the Civil War, World War I and II, and the challenges to government that took hold during the 1980s. In this third edition, Brownlee adds four new chapters covering the colonial era, the American Revolution, the Civil War, the 1920s, and the post-1945 era including the tax policies of the George W. Bush and Barack Obama administrations. It features expanded discussion of government expenditures, deficits and debt, public resources, counter-cyclical fiscal policy, and state and local taxation. Its interdisciplinary interpretation makes it perfect for scholars, graduate students and advanced undergraduate students.

Author: W. Elliot Brownlee
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 07/18/2016
Pages: 336
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 1.06lbs
Size: 9.11h x 6.02w x 0.82d
ISBN: 9781107492561


Review Citation(s):
Choice 02/01/2017

About the Author
Brownlee, W. Elliot: - W. Elliot Brownlee's books include The Political Economy of Transnational Tax Reform: The Shoup Mission to Japan (co-edited), Federal Taxation in America: A Short History, The Reagan Presidency: Pragmatic Conservatism and its Legacies (co-edited), Funding the Modern American State: The Rise and Fall of the Era of Easy Finance, 1941-1995, Dynamics of Ascent: A History of the American Economy, Women in the American Economy: A Documentary History, 1675-1929 (with Mary M. Brownlee), and Progressivism and Economic Growth: The Wisconsin Income Tax, 1911-1929. Brownlee has held visiting professor appointments at Princeton University, New Jersey, the University of Tokyo, and Yokohama National University, Japan. He was a Bicentennial Lecturer, the US Department of the Treasury and has been a fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and the Charles Warren Center, Harvard University, Massachusetts.