Objectives:

In this course, we will cover inequality, the distribution and taxation of wealth and capital income, and the challenges that tax systems face in a globalized world. We will study how taxation affects economic behavior (e.g., labor supply, savings decisions) and economic equilibrium (tax incidence). We will also discuss behavioral responses to taxes and transfers and the optimality arguments for a wide range of government instruments in the presence of informational imperfections, political constraints and other distortions. Policies that will be studied are: indirect taxation, the taxation of capital, the taxation of labor income and the provision of public goods. For each topic, we combine theoretical models with empirical evidence.