The Collision of Tax and Welfare Politics: The Political History of the Earned Income Tax Credit, 1969 - 1999

Dennis J. Ventry

JCPR Working Papers from Northwestern University/University of Chicago Joint Center for Poverty Research

Abstract: Updated March 25, 2001

A revised version of this paper appears as "The Collision of Tax and Welfare Politics: The Political History of the Earned Income Tax Credit, 1969-1999." National Tax Journal 53(4) (part 2): 983-1026. For more information see www.ntanet.org.

This paper uses the political history and pre-history of the EITC to describe how the politics of welfare reform influence tax policies that function as social policy. It suggests that the economic tradeoffs inherent in the formulation of tax-transfer programs are also political tradeoffs. It examines policy choices between costs and labor supply incentives, as well as those between ease of participation and compliance rates. The paper concludes that although economic analysis influenced the creation and development of the EITC, political factors, not economics, animated the history of the program.

Date: 2000-01-28
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:wop:jopovw:149

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