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Book Review;Tax reform inAmerica;A simple bare necessity; 书评;美国税改;必须做的一件事; The Benefit and the Burden: Tax ReformWhy WeNeed It and What It Will Take. By Bruce Bartlett. 《效益与负担：税改我们为什么需要税改，推行税改需要什么》。布鲁斯巴特利特著。 Few subjects match tax reform for economicimportance and utter lack of sex appeal. With agovernment bleeding red ink, an ageingpopulation and growth lagging, reform is back onAmerica s political agenda. Bruce Bartlett, a supply-side economist, tax expert and formeradviser to President Reagan, is among those best equipped to help navigate the murkyterrain. Mr Bartlett held influential economic positions during the country s last great spasmof reform in the 1980s, but he is now held an apostate by many Republicans, for whom theonly acceptable tax changes are cuts. His balanced, well-researched primer on America stax system, The Benefit and the Burden, will not endear him further to ideologues, but it isa refreshing entre to a difficult subject. 很少有话题能像税收改革那样具有经济意义，也很少有话题能像税收改革这样枯燥无味。政府赤字还在增加，人口老龄化还在加剧，经济增长依然迟缓，税收改革又重新回到美国的政治议程。一些人秣马厉兵帮助美国共渡难关，供应学派经济学家布鲁斯巴特莱特就是其中的一位，他是一位税务专家，曾在里根政府里担任顾问。在上世纪80年代的美国改革阵痛中，巴特莱特先生确立了他在经济领域的重要地位，然而现在许多共和党人视他为叛徒，因为唯一可以接受的税改方案因他而被删除。他那本结构平衡、条分缕析介绍美国税制的普及读本《福利及税负》不再使他更受理论家的追捧，但把这本书当作一个困难话题的开口小菜倒是不错。 | 
