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The Greedy Hand: How Taxes Drive Americans Crazy and What to Do About It
by Amity Shlaes
Random House, New York, NY. Hardback, 255 pp. ISBN 0-375-50132-0.
If you think that our government just levies the taxes needed to fund its activities, you need to read this book. Amity Shlaes gives the history and reasoning behind many of the more onerous taxing activities we must endure. She discusses how tax issues are used for control, and how some of the taxes were supported by Keynesians who believe that high taxes are necessary because government spending is better than any spending you and I may do.
The first chapter of the book introduces us to the "greedy hand" of government with the story of the beginnings of income tax withholding. While we were familiar with this history, the expose' of the motives and processes was quite enlightening to us.
The next ten chapters of the book discuss how taxation affects various areas of everyday life, including clothes, work, marriage, retirement, and death. I found the chapter on "your accountant" to be particularly frightening, as Ms. Shlaes reveals the pressures the IRS uses to control the people who prepare our tax returns.
We did have one question concerning the discussion of Social Security being a Ponzi scheme. On page 50, the curtailment of immigration was mentioned as a reason for the acuteness of the problems with Social Security. We are curious why other causes were not also mentioned. The first major change we think of as reducing the number of people paying into the system now and in the next few decades is the decision to legalize abortion. If our population included the 38 million people aborted since 1973, wouldn't Social Security be in far better shape? Then there are the factors associated with our prosperity -- greater life expectancy and lower fertility rate. The system was originally insurance against living "too long," but now has become a system that encourages people to leave the work force when they still could make significant contributions to society. It is sad that the system has not been updated to keep up with these results of prosperity.
The final chapter gives the author's principles for proper taxation. Those who have been to our seminar will know that we particularly appreciate the first one: "Taxes have to be visible." Otherwise, how can we make intelligent decisions about the taxes we pay? The other suggestions make good sense to us also.
This book should be read by all who are politically active to help them understand the true motives in taxation. Those who read this book who are not active in politics may be inspired to get involved as they understand how some politicians think about God's money.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Amity Shlaes is the youngest member of the Wall Street Journal's editorial board, where she is an editorialist on tax policy. This is her second book, the first being Germany: The Empire Within. She is a magna cum laude graduate of Yale University.
For more information, see the author's website at www.greedyhand.com .
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