Tax reform in the context of Hall–Rabushka flat tax

⭐ Core Definition: Tax reform

Tax reform is the process of changing the way taxes are collected or managed by the government and is usually undertaken to improve tax administration or to provide economic or social benefits. Tax reform can include reducing the level of taxation of all people by the government, making the tax system more progressive or less progressive, or simplifying the tax system and making the system more understandable or more accountable.

Numerous organizations have been set up to reform tax systems worldwide, often with the intent to reform income taxes or value added taxes into something considered more economically liberal. Other reforms propose tax systems that attempt to deal with externalities. Such reforms are sometimes proposed to be revenue-neutral, for example in revenue neutrality of the FairTax, meaning they ought not result in more tax or less being collected. Georgism claims that various forms of land tax can both deal with externalities and improve productivity.

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👉 Tax reform in the context of Hall–Rabushka flat tax

The Hall–Rabushka flat tax is a flat tax proposal on consumption designed by American economists Robert Hall and Alvin Rabushka at the Hoover Institution. The Hall–Rabushka flat tax involves taxing income but excluding investment. The Hall–Rabushka flat tax may include an exemption, which allows the tax to preserve progressivity.

In the United States, extensive tax reform has not taken place since the Tax Reform Act of 1986, and like other tax reform, the flat tax has not advanced far in the US political process. However, Eastern Bloc countries have generally embraced the flat tax after the fall of the Iron Curtain. Hall and Rabushka have consulted extensively in designing flat taxes.

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⭐ Core Definition: Tax reform
👉 Tax reform in the context of Hall–Rabushka flat tax
Tax reform in the context of Modern liberalism in the United States
Tax reform in the context of Walter Mondale

Tax reform in the context of Modern liberalism in the United States

Modern liberalism, often referred to simply as liberalism, is the dominant ideological variant of liberalism in the United States. It is most synonymous with the ideology of social liberalism, which is a variant of liberalism that moves beyond classical liberalism to account for poverty, seeking a balance between civil liberty and social equality via a social safety net. U.S. modern liberalism also takes inspiration from cultural liberalism and progressivism, and some (but not all) modern liberals explicitly identify with the contemporary U.S. progressive movement. Writing in 1993, American academic writer Ian Adams argued all major U.S. parties up to that point were "liberal and always have been. Essentially they espouse classical liberalism, that is a form of democratized Whig constitutionalism plus the free market. The point of difference comes with the influence of social liberalism."

Economically, modern liberalism accepts a role for government to protect against market failures, protect competition and prevent corporate monopolies, and supports labor rights. Its fiscal policy supports sufficient funding for a social safety net, while simultaneously promoting income-proportional tax reform policies to reduce deficits. It calls for active government involvement in other social and economic matters such as reducing economic inequality, expanding access to education and healthcare, and protection of the shared natural environment, in large part on the contention that advances in those areas create a thriving economy in the long run. Modern liberalism was formed in the 20th century in response to the Great Depression. Major examples of modern liberal policy programs include the New Deal, the Fair Deal, the New Frontier, the Great Society, the Affordable Care Act, and the Build Back Better Plan.

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Tax reform in the context of Walter Mondale

Walter Frederick Mondale (January 5, 1928 – April 19, 2021) was an American politician who served as the 42nd vice president of the United States from 1977 to 1981 under President Jimmy Carter. A member of the Democratic Party, he represented Minnesota in the United States Senate from 1964 to 1976, and was the Democratic nominee in the 1984 presidential election.

Mondale was born in the small municipality of Ceylon, Minnesota, and graduated from the University of Minnesota in 1951 after attending Macalester College. He then served in the U.S. Army during the Korean War before earning a law degree in 1956. He married Joan Mondale, who was the former Joan Adams, in 1955. Working as a lawyer in Minneapolis, Mondale was appointed Minnesota Attorney General in 1960 by Governor Orville Freeman and was elected to a full term as attorney general in 1962 with 60% of the vote. He was appointed to the U.S. Senate by Governor Karl Rolvaag upon the resignation of U.S. senator Hubert Humphrey following Humphrey's election as vice president in 1964. Mondale was elected to a full Senate term in 1966 and reelected in 1972, resigning in 1976 as he prepared to succeed to the vice presidency in 1977. While in the Senate, he supported consumer protection, fair housing, tax reform, and the desegregation of schools; he served on the Church Committee.

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