Thomas C. Sorensen Seminar: Taxing the Rich: What’s Fair, What Works, and Why?

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Location
University of Nebraska-Lincoln, City Campus Union

Free and open to the public.

With the United States coming out of the most painful recession in modern history, fundamental questions about tax and fiscal policy have gained the spotlight in the current election season. President Barack Obama has proposed raising taxes on the wealthiest Americans in some areas to increase revenue and balance the national budget. Republican Presidential Candidate Mitt Romney has proposed maintaining or reducing taxes in key areas to stimulate job growth and investment. Which approach is right, and how will it affect the country?

Tax policy expert Dr. Eric Toder will present an overview of the current tax situation facing the country, the different tax approaches of the Obama and Romney camps, and the projected effects on national revenue, the deficit, and the distribution of after-tax income. Dr. Toder will provide an objective, evidence-based presentation aimed at ordinary people wanting to know more about this critical election-year issue. The talk will shed light on a complex and highly-partisan topic, and help voters understand the reality from the rhetoric.

Featured Speaker

 

Eric ToderEric Toder is an institute fellow at the Urban Institute and co-director of the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center. Dr. Toder’s recent work includes papers on cutting tax preferences to pay for lower tax rates, tax expenditures and the size of government, tax policy and international competitiveness, value added taxes, the home mortgage interest deduction, trends in tax expenditures, the distributional effects of tax expenditures, corporate tax reform, charitable tax incentives, taxation of saving, the tax gap, effects on retirement income of changes in pension coverage and stock prices, employing older workers, and energy tax incentives. Dr. Toder previously held a number of positions in tax policy offices in the U.S. government and overseas, including service as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Tax Analysis at the U.S. Treasury Department, Director of Research at the Internal Revenue Service, Deputy Assistant Director for Tax Analysis at the Congressional Budget Office, and consultant to the New Zealand Treasury. He received his Ph.D. in economics from the University of Rochester in 1971.

This forum is co-sponsored by the UNL Center for Civic Engagement and Occupy the Voting Booth, the UNL College of Business Administration, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Beta Alpha Psi Chapter, the UNL College of Arts and Sciences through the Thomas C. Sorensen Policy Seminar Series endowment, the Association of Students of the University of Nebraska and the University of Nebraska Public Policy Center.

Right-click on this link to download .mp3 audio of the event.

Click here to see Dr. Toder’s PowerPoint Presentation.

For more information, please contact Tarik Abdel-Monem at (402) 472-3147 or tabdelmonem@nebraska.edu