Another day, another review

Alan Viard, in the latest National Tax Journal (Vol LXII, No. 2, June 2009), says the following about Institutional Foundations of Public Finance, the recently published conference volume (in honor of David Bradford) that I co-edited with Alan Auerbach:

"The book is exceptionally well suited to serve as a tribute to David Bradford. The authors and discussants address the questions Bradford studied, and they do so at the same broad and conceptual, but policy-relevant, level at which he addressed them .... This book should be of interest to economists studying any of the topics that it covers, particularly those interested in fundamental tax reform. It is a fitting tribute to David Bradford and should serve as an inspiration to those seeking to carry on his work."

I would add that it's not just suitable for economists, but also people with tax policy interests generally, including those with law or other generalist backgrounds. The participants were close to a 50-50 lawyers and economists mix. But admittedly it's much more of a specialists' book than, say, this one.

Topics covered include fiscal federalism, dividend taxation, fiscal language, income and consumption taxes, and questions of transition to a consumption tax.