Tax Justice and the Political Economy of Global Capitalism, 1945 to the Present [Hardcover]

Tax justice has become an increasingly central issue of political debate in many countries, particularly following the cardiac arrest of global financial services in 2008 and the subsequent worldwide slump in trade and production. The evident abuse of tax systems by corporations and rich individuals through tax avoidance schemes and offshore shadow banking is increasingly in the public eye. Above all, the political challenges of recovery and structural reform have raised core issues of burden-sharing and social equity on the agendas of both civil society groups and political elites. Democratic states need tax revenue to fund public goods and combat public bads with any degree of legitimacy. The contributions to this book discuss the haphazard evolution of contemporary taxation systems, their contradictory effects in a globalized economy, and the urgency of their reform as a precondition for social justice.

Introduction:Why Tax Justice Matters in Global Economic Development
Jeremy Leaman & Attiya Waris

Part I: Taxation, Tax Culture and Taxation Reform in European Countries

Chapter 1.Dismantling Slasher Osborne: why Britain needs tax reform, not cuts
George Irvin

Chapter 2.Social and Economic Aspects (or Failures) of Tax Policy in Germany
Dieter Eissel

Chapter 3.Tax Reform, Income Inequality and the Welfare State: The Case of Portugal
Miguel Glatzer

Chapter 4.The Fiscal Lessons of the Global Crisis for the European Union: The Destructive Consequences of Tax Competition
Jeremy Leaman

Part II: Taxation, Taxation Policy and Less Developed Economies

Chapter 5.British Government Attitudes to British Tax Havens: An examination of Whitehall responses to the growth of tax havens in British dependent territories from 196lÃ#