* Solid undergraduate discussion of the economics of taxation;
* An introductory discussion of a great many of the fascinating policy controversies of our time;
* Often a lively text by one of the most powerful minds in contemporary economics.
Flaws include:
* A failure to update many of the data and references carried over from the preceding (1988) edition;
* Too much focus on American facts and institutions;
* A failure to understand the Public Choice perspective;
* A failure to appreciate the beauty and simplicity of the Flat Tax, and a refusal to cite the work of Hall, Rabushka, and Bradford in the area;
* A failure to describe the work of Ronald Coase properly;
* A sneering denigration of the stock market as a "gambling casino", without mentioning the role of the stock market in disciplining managers, in reallocating risks, and in diffusing ownership of large enterprises;
* A failure to appreciate how problematic the taxation of realized capital gains can be;
* A failure to appreciate the drawbacks of pay-as-you-go public old age pensions;
* A failure to appreciate the merits of vouchers enabling parents to choose among private as well as public schools;
* Finally, an unseemly deference to the Clintonista party line, unseemly in an academic.
The tragedy is that politicians, judges, and the better cut of journalists could use a better text on this subject.