Sometimes, it's right on front of your eyes ...

 The authors of this piece have failed to apply Occam's Razor in interpreting the central empirical finding.

https://www.aei.org/research-products/report/ai-models-rate-right-think-tanks-lower-in-terms-of-morality-objectivity-and-quality-than-those-on-the-left/?mkt_tok=NDc1LVBCUS05NzEAAAGchMtTUmRXDQROqU8GZXoqTJzY5Xm_qtjwy4zmjGFL9lj4wOIiJtl_bWEJ0T0FTcJMpF1leoF076D4S75xq5tb36Twe-51sKCUv5OkZFrSwvtsk64&fbclid=IwY2xjawMbK1xleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBicmlkETFHeEhKZ1dJU0hpMlNFbjcyAR5ptk54Gxvty419TblyAFOaASEoqA57K6TmNCA5kzu2v9VgFYJw6b5izN_mnw_aem_scPhkd4CmrMePpEOfljTbQ

Forthcoming publications

I have three new articles coming out shortly. The first, in Tax Notes International next Monday (but already available behind a paywall online) is “Digital Services Taxes vs. Pillar 1: Did the U.S. Catch a Break and Not Even Notice?”

The second, forthcoming in the Virginia Tax Review, is “Right Taxpayers, Wrong Taxpayers, Deduction-Selling, and Proxy Taxation.”

The third, forthcoming in a symposium issue of the Loyola of Los Angeles Law Review, is “Couples Neutrality, Marriage Neutrality, and Two-Earner Deductions.”

I haven't put any of them on SSRN as yet, but will do so shortly.

New articles, current and near-future

I had a sabbatical this past spring, and thus haven't been in a classroom since the end of fall 2024. One way I've used the time is in writing.

Leaving aside my memoir (available at https://www.amazon.com/Now-Then-Memoir/dp/B0FD424K9C/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2Z45SW78HPMOI&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.qDclUhMzvsVrpnD5L2tQq7HGEofxNIvs96-FGLn4dAc._XzxKpdAJk1wDl7ZgmUBu_wZVfq02XFq_YOC_f6Wcao&dib_tag=se&keywords=daniel+shaviro+now+is+now+and+then+is+then&qid=1752697305&sprefix=daniel+shavir%2Caps%2C121&sr=8-1), the first fruits of this activity are now moving towards publication. The Virginia Tax Review will soon be publishing a piece entitled Right Taxpayers, Wrong Taxpayers, Deduction-Selling, and Proxy Taxation. Plus, it is possible that Tax Notes, in the late summer or early fall, will publish a piece that is currently titled Did the United States Catch a Break and Not Even Notice? Assessing the Rise of Digital Services Taxes In Lieu of Pillar 1. Note that, in this article title, the question mark plays a crucial role - I am addressing a possibility, not making a definite assertion. 

Other topics that I've been working on, or will soon, include (1) a kind of mainly twentieth-century intellectual history of debate over the proper uses (or not) of the Haig-Simons income definition, (2) a piece on Social Security that explores the current intellectual and policy relevance of classic works on the subject by Paul Samuelson and Martin Feldstein,* and (3) possibly something about economic concerns that are adjacent to the not very economically (or philosophically) well-grounded notion of international tax nexus.

*I was critical in some respects of Feldstein's Social Security work when it came out, but I suppose that by now it has become "classic." Also, it has virtues as well as defects.

Another five-star Amazon review of my memoir

This one goes as follows: "Pure gold. Easily the most honest memoir I've ever read: bracingly real, sharply funny, and deeply human. Whether or not you're familiar with Dan's immense contributions in law and public policy, this is absolutely worth the read."

I don't know who posted this (since it's first-name only), but a fair inference from reading it would be that we (probably) do know each other.

Review of my memoir on Amazon

 Unexpectedly warm and insightful portrait of the Baby Boom Generation. (5 stars)

Reviewed in the United States on June 29, 2025

Verified Purchase

Who knew that law professors were so funny? This is a warmhearted and introspective series of vignettes that provide an unexpected insight into the life of young professionals from the 1950s to the 1980s. Always entertaining and never boring, even when one might expect it to be. A great read.

Zero revenue cost from any and all tax cuts, forever and ever

I gather that the GOP score of the Senate tax bill DOES show budgetary costs as being lowered by the expiration of new provisions (such as the higher standard deduction) that it would add to the Internal Revenue Code. This blatantly contradicts its use of a "current-policy" baseline for 2017 provisions.

The Senate GOP's refusal to use a current-policy baseline for NEW provisions means that, the day after enactment, they could pass a new law making all of those expiring provisions permanent, and claim a budgetary cost of zero.

But why stop there? From now on, they should simply make ALL new tax breaks that they enact expire in a week. This would create next to zero revenue loss no matter what they were doing. Then, the next day, they could pass a new law making the same provisions permanent, at a zero revenue cost under the current-policy baseline. They could even, under this approach, repeal all U.S. federal taxes, and claim a zero budgetary cost.

Good work, guys.

Paperback version of my memoir is now available

 The paperback version of my memoir, Now Is Now and Then Is Then, is now available on Amazon for $7.99. Kindle version is $4.99 or free if you subscribe to Kindle Unlimited. 

The link is at https://www.amazon.com/Now-Then-Memoir-ebook/dp/B0FBMJSDWY/ref=sr_1_1?crid=25JK9DBVTNMJL&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.JEwXYEX2OYLM1ZE5IX8ESrHGEofxNIvs96-FGLn4dAc.2EKk8AIrE7yGiyM9j54_0hEcDnuJMVtrOgYZjKiiDJ4&dib_tag=se&keywords=daniel+shaviro+now+is+now+and+then+is+then&qid=1750017020&sprefix=daniel+shaviro%2Caps%2C162&sr=8-1