At this event, Alan Viard will present the X tax proposal while James Mackie of the U.S. Department of the Treasury and Chris Edwards of the Cato Institute will offer commentary.

This book by Alan Viard and Robert Carroll proposes to completely replace the income tax system with a progressive consumption tax.

On Wednesday 8, 2012, the House Committee on Ways and Means held a testimony on "The Interaction of Tax and Financial Accounting on Tax Reform." Here, Aparna Mathur contributes to their discussion.  

The one thing on which our political leaders seem to agree is the need for corporate tax reform. But amid all of the promising rhetoric there is significant cause for concern. Many proposals, particularly those of Messrs. Obama and Santorum, seem to have unlearned many of the lessons of modern economics.

"President Obama's tax proposal to cut the corporate tax rate to 28% would take the US's ranking from last place (34th) to 32nd place. We need more leadership than that to get a truly competitive and pro-growth tax system." – Alex Brill

Tax reform perpetually tops policymakers' lists for ways to grow the economy, but a generation has passed since the last successful effort, the Tax Reform Act of 1986. This is because of a simple political reality-it's hard. But not, I believe, impossible.

There is a tax plan that offers the best of both worlds: growth and progressivity. It's called the Bradford X tax.

The Tax Reform Act of 1986, enacted 25 years ago last Friday, showed how a tax reform that includes lower rates can change incentives in a way that grows the tax base and produces extra revenue.