Tax policy expert Toder to discuss 'Taxing the Rich' on Oct. 18

            With the United States coming out of the most painful recession in modern history, fundamental questions about tax and fiscal policy have gained the spotlight in the current election season.

            President Barack Obama has proposed raising taxes on the wealthiest Americans in some areas to increase revenue and balance the national budget. Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has proposed maintaining or reducing taxes in key areas to stimulate job growth and investment. Which approach is right, and how will it affect the country?

            Tax policy expert Eric Toder will discuss possible answers to that question in an address at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln on Oct. 18.

            In "Taxing the Rich: What's Fair, What Works and Why" at 3:30 p.m. in the Nebraska Union, 1400 R St., Toder will present an overview of the current tax situation facing the country, the different tax approaches of the Obama and Romney camps, and the projected effects on national revenue, the deficit and the distribution of after-tax income. He will provide an objective, evidence-based presentation aimed at ordinary people wanting to know more about this critical election year issue. The talk will shed light on a complex and highly-partisan topic, and help voters understand the reality from the rhetoric.

            Toder is an institute fellow at the Urban Institute and co-director of the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center. His recent work includes papers on cutting tax preferences to pay for lower tax rates, tax expenditures and the size of government, tax policy and international competitiveness, value-added taxes, the home mortgage interest deduction, trends in tax expenditures, the distributional effects of tax expenditures, corporate tax reform, charitable tax incentives, taxation of saving, the tax gap, effects on retirement income of changes in pension coverage and stock prices, employing older workers, and energy tax incentives.

            Toder previously held a number of positions in tax policy offices in the U.S. government and overseas, including serving as deputy assistant secretary for tax analysis at the U.S. Treasury Department, director of research at the Internal Revenue Service, deputy assistant director for tax analysis at the Congressional Budget Office, and consultant to the New Zealand Treasury. He received his Ph.D. in economics from the University of Rochester in 1971.

            The talk is free and open to the public. Toder's appearance is sponsored by the University of Nebraska Public Policy Center, UNL College of Business Administration, UNL College of Arts and Sciences through the Thomas C. Sorensen endowment, UNL Center for Civic Engagement and Occupy the Voting Booth, UNL Beta Alpha Psi Chapter, and the Association of Students of the University of Nebraska. For more information, visit http://ppc.unl.edu.

Writer: Tarik Abdel-Monem