Books by Jeffrey Birnbaum
“Gucci Gulch is the nickname for the hall in the US Congress outside where the tax committees meet and where all the fancy lobbyists with their Gucci loafers line up. Not all of them could get into the committee room, so they’d line up outside and wait for news about what was going on. The book does sort of read like a thriller. Probably the only tax thriller there is. It’s about the months leading up to the next-to-last big income tax reform we had here in the US, which became the Tax Reform Act of 1986. It’s an interesting story about how the politics of taxation work, because a couple of years before it passed, very few people would have thought anything like it could happen.” Read more...
The Lobbyists
by Jeffrey Birnbaum
Well, as Machiavelli said, flattery is everything, it’s one’s weakness. I selected this book because I’m one of the characters in it. About the book I would say, it’s a good sitcom, it is a nice read, it gives some of the flavor of what lobbying is about. It doesn’t get into fundamental ethical questions - - whether the elites have a stranglehold on public policy or whether the system is more open and, as Alinksy suggested, the less powerful can prevail. It’s not an analytical book per se. But it gives you a good flavor of what it’s all about.
Interviews where books by Jeffrey Birnbaum were recommended
The best books on Lobbying, recommended by Mark Bloomfield
Is lobbying always a bad thing? Or can it be used to effect social change? Washington insider Mark Bloomfield gives a lobbyist’s perspective. He picks the best books on lobbying.
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1
Showdown at Gucci Gulch: Lawmakers, Lobbyists, and the Unlikely Triumph of Tax Reform
by Alan Murray & Jeffrey Birnbaum -
2
The Sinews of Power: War, Money and the English State, 1688–1783
by John Brewer -
3
Taxing the Rich: A History of Fiscal Fairness in the United States and Europe
by David Stasavage & Kenneth Scheve -
4
The Income Tax: A Study of the History, Theory, and Practice of Income Taxation at Home and Abroad
by Edwin Seligman -
5
Dimensions of Tax Design: The Mirrlees Review
by Institute for Fiscal Studies
The Best Books on Taxes and Taxation, recommended by Joel Slemrod & Michael Keen
The Best Books on Taxes and Taxation, recommended by Joel Slemrod & Michael Keen
Many of us try to avoid thinking about taxes unless we have to, but the truth is taxation has had a profound effect on the course of history and will play a key in the future society we create, too. Here, Michael Keen and Joel Slemrod, both public finance economists and authors of Rebellion, Rascals, and Revenue: Tax Follies and Wisdom Through the Ages, recommend books about taxes that are not only informative but also good reads.
