ABSTRACT
Taxation has been the central instrument of state economic policy since World War II and has long been at the center of the partisan conflict over the proper size, role, and functions of the modern state.73 Tax systems in the United States and Britain “encompass a complex mix of competing goals, ambitions, and interests … Raising revenue, redistributing income, encouraging savings, stimulating growth, penalizing consumption, directing investment, and rewarding certain values while penalizing others are just some of the hundreds of goals that any modern government tries to promote through its tax system.”74
