Earlier this year, an article by Victor Fleischer, a professor now at the University of Illinois College of Law, helped turn a technical aspect of partnership taxation into the most contentious tax policy issue of 2007. Members of Congress, the George W. Bush administration, the 2008 presidential candidates, academic commentators,...

The proper treatment of carried interest depends upon a number of unresolved economic issues.

A provision to increase the tax on carried interest is currently under consideration in Congress, but the effects of such a change should be examined in closer detail before it goes into effect.