Boss, Alfred

English

Research Papers in Economics

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Boss, Alfred
Book Review
[Book Review of] World tax reform : a progress report ; report of a conference held in
Washington, DC, on November 12 - 13, 1987, sponsored by the Brookings Institution, Joseph A.
Pechman (ed.), Washington, Bookings Institution, 1988
Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv
Provided in cooperation with:
Institut für Weltwirtschaft (IfW)
Suggested citation: Boss, Alfred (1989) : [Book Review of] World tax reform : a progress
report ; report of a conference held in Washington, DC, on November 12 - 13, 1987,
sponsored by the Brookings Institution, Joseph A. Pechman (ed.), Washington, Bookings
Institution, 1988, Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv, ISSN 0043-2636, Vol. 125, Iss. 3, pp. 650, http://
hdl.handle.net/10419/2157650 Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv
Pechman, Joseph A. (Ed.), World Tax Reform: A Progress Report. Wash-
ington 1988. The Brookings Institution. X, 294 pp.
In the early eighties tax policy became a dominant economic topic in developed
countries. Since then a number ofcountries' tax systems have changed dramatically,
withothercountriesfollowing suitandadaptingtheirmIesoftaxationwhilestillothers
plantofollow inthereformprocess.Thesereforrns werethethemeofa conferenceheld
at the Brookings Institution in November 1987.
The eleven papers presented are the subject of this book. For each country a
description is given ofthe development ofthe specific tax systems, their main defects,
and the most important aspects of the reforms. For some countries the process of
reform and the political difficulties involved are also presented. The stmcture ofthe
papers is similar. Useful information concerning the tax systems is given, allowing for
comparisons of both the systems themselves and their recent specific changes, e.g.,
taxation of capital income or capital gains or integration of income and corporate
income taxation.
Becausethepaperswere writtenbygovemmentexpertsofthespecificcountries,the
descriptionsareverygood.Theassessmentofspecificitemsofthetaxsystem,however,
orofthechangesdecideduponsometimesis biasedinfavouroftheofficialgovemment
view. Potentialdisincentiveeffects areespeciallyoftenjudgedtobesmallwhiledistribu-
tional aspects are stressed.
Themostbrilliantpaperis contributedbylanByattfromtheU.K. Itincludesa very
clear assessment of the incentive effects of the British tax system; e.g., the problems
resulting from the poverty and unemployment traps. The author was in a favourable
position because ofthe courageous taxchanges that occurredin his countryduringthe
last decade. Otherfundamental changes such as the abolitionofdomestic and non-do-
mestic rates and the introduction ofa poIl tax will only become effective in 1989 and
1990.
Since the conference at the end of 1987 world tax reform has continued. In 1988,
Austria adopted substantial reform measures while the Japanese parliament decided
upon a fundamental change and Italy introduced a new income tax tariff. As a
consequence, the book in some respects is already outdated and needs revision. Ne-
vertheless, the main ideas underlying the tax changes described arestill valid: lowertax
rates, broader tax bases, and reduction (though small) of the overall tax burden as
instruments for achieving efficiency.
Alfred Boss
Scott, Anthony (Ed.), with the assistance ofJohn Helliwell, Tracy Lewis, and Philip
Neher, Progress in Natural Resource Economics. Essays in Resource
Analysis by Members of the Programme in Natural Resource Economics at the
University ofBritish Columbia. Oxford 1985. Clarendon Press. VII, 440 pp.
Johansson, Per-Olov, Karl-Gustaf Löfgren, The Economics of Forestry and
Natural Resources. Oxford, New York 1985. Basil Blackwell. XIII, 292 pp.
TheClubofRomehasbeenwamingtheworldsince 1968 thateconomicprogressis
subjecttoa limitedsupplyofnaturalresources. Twentyyearslaterevidencesupporting
such a pessimism is, however, still missing. Whatwent wrong? Itseems thatifthe Club
hadtakentheeconomicsofnaturalresources moreseriouslyatthemomentofforecast-
ingfuture growth, it would have hadthe chance to discover that not physical resource

[Book Review of] World tax reform : a progress report ; report of a conference held in Washington, DC, on November 12 - 13, 1987, sponsored by the Brookings Institution, Joseph A. Pechman (ed.), Washington, Bookings Institution, 1988.

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[Book Review of] World tax reform : a progress report ; report of a conference held in Washington, DC, on November 12 - 13, 1987, sponsored by the Brookings Institution, Joseph A. Pechman (ed.), Washington, Bookings Institution, 1988.

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Research Papers in Economics