Expert and Public Attitudes Towards Tax Policy: 2013, 1994, and 1934

Diane Lim, Joel Slemrod and Eleanor Wilking

National Tax Journal, 2013, vol. 66, issue 4, 775-806

Abstract: What do tax policy “experts” think about tax policy issues, and why do these views differ so strikingly from those held by the general public? To explore these questions, we examine the results of a recent survey of tax policy experts who are members of the National Tax Association (NTA). We compare those responses to two previous surveys — one conducted in 1994 of NTA members and the other in 1934 of U.S. public finance professors. We also survey the general public on a subset of the questions asked of the NTA members, and discover a large divergence between the answers of the NTA respondents and those of the public. We suspect, but cannot prove, that part of the divergence arises because experts are trained to think of policy changes in a balanced-budget framework, so that supporting a tax cut must also mean raising some other tax or cutting some government expenditures. Absent that connection, lower taxes and narrow bases can indeed look attractive.

Date: 2013
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ntj:journl:v:66:y:2013:i:4:p:775-806

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