This working paper contains the table of contents and introductory chapter to The
Theory of Taxation and Public Economics (Princeton University Press 2008). The book
presents a unified conceptual framework for analyzing taxation and other fiscal
instruments. Subjects include optimal income taxation, commodity taxation, government
expenditures on transfer programs and on public goods, capital taxation, taxation of
private voluntary transfers, social security, taxation of different family units, and the
welfare economic underpinnings of redistributive taxation. By applying a common
methodology to disparate subjects, the book produces significant cross-fertilization,
yields solutions to previously intractable problems, and suggests an agenda for further
theoretical investigation as well as empirical research.