The tax code is 5,296 pages long and full of complicated details. We outlined a few of them in our recent column for the New York Times Magazine. So why hasn't Congress done anything to simplify the tax code? We posed the question to Alan D. Viard, a tax expert at the American Enterprise Institute. His response is below.

Many Americans resent banks' roles in the financial crisis and in home foreclosures, and are angered at huge salaries paid by firms that received taxpayer money. These feelings are understandable, but not the entire picture.

As the European debt crisis now knocks on the Italy and Spain's door, it is well to recall that the Euro was a flawed idea from its very inception. The following considerations make it highly improbable that the Euro will survive in its present form by end-2012.

Free-lunch myths should not distract us from the challenge at hand. The fiscal imbalance must be addressed through a bipartisan agreement that includes broad tax increases and entitlement cuts.

NPR should not fight defunding, but rather, work with Congress to get off the payroll so it no longer has to worry about pleasing politicians.

Democrats would love it if Republicans allowed themselves to be baited into what would essentially be a culture-war fight over public radio, rather than focusing on much greater threats.

Rick Santorum announced Tuesday that he is suspending his presidential campaign, leaving Mitt Romney to wrap up the Republican nomination to take on President Obama despite still having GOP hopefuls Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul in the race.

This is the season of generational twaddle. At graduation ceremonies across the country, politicians, authors, actors, and businessmen take to the stage to tell young people they are fantastic simply because they are young. This year, the ritual is more pathetic than usual because there’s a presidential election in the offing.