Irving Fisher's Spendings (Consumption) Tax in Retrospect
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 2790654 |
|---|---|
| Authors | John B Shoven, John Whalley (National Bureau of Economic Research) |
| Year | 2005 |
| Volume | 64 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 215-235 |
| Publication date | 2005-01-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | American Journal of Economics and Sociology (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0002-9246 • E-ISSN: 1536-7150 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1111/j.1536-7150.2005.00360.x |
| OpenAlex | W2030551476 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 5 |
Irving Fisher wrote a significant number of papers towards the end of his career on the design of the U.S. tax system. These writings culminated in a book that he wrote with his brother Herbert in 1942. Fisher thought that the double taxation of saving under an income tax was extremely harmful to the economy and he therefore proposed a "spendings" tax or what he referred to as a "real income" tax. Even though he disliked the terminology, he advocated what today would be referred to as a progressive consumption tax. Fisher's analysis was both theoretical and practical. His 1942 book contained a proposed tax return that implemented his ideas. His analysis is surprisingly modern and relevant today. This paper presents the Fisher proposal and examines the current U.S. tax system in light of his tax views. We argue that Fisher would find that the U.S. tax system lacks intellectual coherence, is economically inefficient, and unnecessarily complex
Consumption (sociology) · Consumption tax · Economics · Income tax · Indirect tax · Linguistics · Public economics · Social science · Sociology · Tax reform · Terminology · Value-added tax · Corporate Taxation and Avoidance · Fiscal Policy and Economic Growth · Philosophy
| Citations per year | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2025 - 2025 (1) |
| Highly cited | No |