Making America's Budget Policy from the 1980's to the 1990's

This collection of articles traces the evolution over the 1980s of budget policy and tax reform by an architect of the Bradley tax reform bill. The articles present a chronological analysis of tax changes and the heated controversy over budget policy and the deficit. It concludes with an analysis of what the future holds. The author, currently staff director of the Joint Economic Committee of Congress, has the perspective of a fiscal expert with many years on the Washington scene.

Joseph J. Minarik

Part 1 Intruduction; Chapter 1 The Making of Tax and Fiscal Policy: An Overview; Part 2 The Policy Environment of the 1980s; Chapter 2 Tax Policy in Historical Perspective; Chapter 3 What's in Store for the Income Tax?; Part 3 Economic and Political Issues; Chapter 4 Why Bradley-Gephardt?; Chapter 5 Semantics of the Flat Rate Tax and Tax Reform; Chapter 6 Tax Reform at the Crossroads; Chapter 7 Tax Reform: Up from the Ashes; Part 4 Tax Reform: Legislative Process and Outcome; Chapter 8 Tax Reform: What Does It Mean?; Chapter 9 How Tax Reform Came About; Chapter 10 Tax Policy Issues Raised by Tax Reform; Part 5 Persistent Deficits and the Implications For The 1990s; Chapter 11 Fiscal Reality and Exploding Myths;