Sessions Information

  • January 4, 2015
    2:00 pm - 3:45 pm
    Session Type: Section Programs
    Session Capacity: N/A
    Location: Washington Marriott Wardman Park Hotel
    Room: Thurgood Marshall North
    Floor: Mezzanine Level
    Thomas Piketty’s recent best-seller, Capital, has catapulted discussions of inequality and social mobility from academic journals into popular culture.  Politicians from both sides of the aisle have highlighted the problems of growing inequality and diminishing social mobility.  To that end, this panel addresses the interaction of the tax system and inequality and social mobility.   For example, the increasing marginal rate structure and the estate tax are frequently justified on the grounds that they reduce inequality.  Is this true?  Or might the estate tax exacerbate inequality?  What impact would a wealth tax, such as the one proposed by Piketty, have on inequality?  How effective are tax expenditures such as the Earned Income Tax Credit and educational tax credits at reducing inequality and fostering social mobility?  Could their effectiveness be improved?  Do other tax expenditures, such as preferences for housing, assist or hinder social mobility?  In what other ways does the tax system either help or hurt social mobility and efforts to reduce inequality?

    Business meeting at program conclusion.
Session Speakers
University of Ottawa Graduate School of Public and International Affairs
Speaker

University of San Diego School of Law
Moderator

Seattle University School of Law
Speaker

Boston College Law School
Speaker

Saint Louis University School of Law
Speaker

Session Fees
  • 5370 Taxation: $0.00