Tax, Justice and the Economy London School of Economics and Political Science

Overview

Key facts

Tax is a fundamental part of every society. Everyone has views on the justice or injustice of the taxes they pay. The rich pay too much (or too little) tax. It’s grossly unfair (or absolutely right) to tax inheritances. Taxes can distort behaviour and create inefficiencies, but they can also correct market failures and help to limit inequality. Why should people pay taxes for services they don’t use, or give away their earnings to people who don’t work? But, what would it be like to live in a society with no taxes? How can we ensure that everyone pays the taxes they owe? And so on.

London School of Economics and Political Science's Tax, Justice and the Economy course helps to make sense of these competing views about the tax system. The aim is to address real-world debates about tax policy as they appear in the media and in politics, but to do so in an academically rigorous way. The course adopts an interdisciplinary approach that draws on ideas from across the social sciences to address two main questions: why do we have the tax policies we have, and how can our current tax system be improved? The main examples will be taken from the UK and US contexts, but the insights generated are truly global.