"Contemporary U.S. Tax Policy is, at its heart, an exciting, if not always pretty, tale of democratic decisionmaking," writes C. Eugene Steuerle. The landmark 2004 first edition outlined the principles of taxation in the early postwar period and the tax policy battles that began with the Reagan revolution and continue today. The second edition has been expanded to investigate President George W. Bush's second term in office: the push to privatize Social Security, the stalled tax code revision, the extension of the 2001 tax cuts, and other battles. Tax policy history has always been messy, repetitive, and rancorous. Yet even in a contentious political environment, evolution--and revolution--can occur.

C. Eugene Steuerle is a senior fellow at the Urban Institute, codirector of the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center, columnist for Tax Notes, and the author or editor of 11 books, more than 150 reports and articles, 50 Congressional testimonies or reports, and 600 columns. He serves on the National Committee on Vital and Health Statistics and on advisory panels or boards for the Congressional Budget Office, the General Accounting Office, the Joint Committee on Taxation, the Actuarial Foundation, and the Independent Sector.Dr. Steuerle has previously served as president of the National Tax Association (2001 - 2002), chair of the 1999 technical panel advising Social Security on its methods and assumptions, president of the National Economists Club Educational Foundation, deputy assistant secretary of the Treasury for tax analysis (1987 - 1989), and resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. Between 1984 and 1986, he served as economic coordinator and original organizer of the Treasury's tax reform effort.