| Abstrakt: |
Jonathan Barry Forman was a thoughtful and prolific scholar. Many of his policy recommendations bear reexamination in these most turbulent of times. This Article examines the past and future impact of three works by Professor Forman: first, his book Making America Work;1 next, the article we wrote together, Making the IRS Work;2 and finally, the last article we co-authored, Borrowing from Millennials to Pay Boomers: Can Tax Policy Create Sustainable Intergenerational Equity-3 In Making America Work, Professor Forman set forth his view of "how government policies should be changed to both encourage greater work effort and reduce economic inequality."4 The book explored the interaction of government policies and market economic forces, looking at both the spending side and the revenue side of government action. While the statistics the book cited are outdated (the book was published in 2006), the recommendations are still vital, and some of them have been implemented. In the first part of the Article, I update some of the statistics, highlight the recommendations that have been implemented, and explore recent scholarship that expands on some of the other recommendations, such as a universal basic income. In Making the IRS Work, Professor Forman and I focused on the problems faced by a resource-constrained Internal Revenue Service ("IRS") and made recommendations for improvement. We considered a variety of approaches that would make it easier for the IRS to raise and collect revenue. Our recommendations for legislative and administrative changes included simplifying the tax system, enhancing third-party reporting, and streamlining the tax filing and dispute resolution procedures. Many of the issues we examined persist, and the recommendations are still valid. In particular, the enactment of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 ("TCJA")5 exacerbated many of the problems. In this part of the Article, I explain how legislative changes and the pandemic have impacted the IRS and how our recommendations could help solve some of the more recent issues. In Borrowing from Millennials, Professor Forman and I considered the intergenerational aspect of the tax system in the United States. Noting that future taxpayers may be in a different situation than current taxpayers, both from increasing income and wealth inequality and from the anticipated increasing burden of government deficits, we considered how to use tax policy to create sustainable intergenerational equity. We did not limit our analysis to budget deficits but also considered how inadequate responses to the challenge of climate change and failing infrastructure may impact future generations. To update this Article, I explore how the recently enacted bipartisan infrastructure legislation and the proposed "Build Back Better" legislation might affect intergenerational equity. I can think of no better way to honor Professor Forman's legacy than to carry it forward. At the time of his death, Professor Forman and I planned to write an article on how tax policy could facilitate remote work. I now plan to write that article with one of Professor Forman's recent co-authors, Caroline Bruckner. I think we will have to call it Making Work from Home Work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
