Samuel Brunson reviews my friend and UCLA law faculty colleague Steven Bank's book, From Sword to Shield: The Transformation of the Corporate Income Tax, 1861 to Present:
Steven A. Bank’s excellent From Sword to Shield: The Transformation of the Corporate Income Tax, 1861 to Present ... paints a picture of an undeliberate, though not-quite-accidental, tax, the design and underlying purpose of which changed regularly, and the consequences of which were poorly understood, even by the business interests that lobbied for legislation that would ultimately prove problematic for corporations and their shareholders. ...
From Sword to Shield is a fascinating read on several levels. It is, of course, a history of the corporate tax. And it offers a broad history the last 150 years or so of business in the United States. But it is also a history of the legislative sausage-making process: in tracing one legal regime for over a century, Professor Bank shows the interaction between the President, legislators, the Treasury Department, parties affected by the legislation, and even newspapers and public perception. The various sides’ discourse is thought-out, passionate, but measured. Every new iteration of the corporate income tax was a compromise, and sometimes the consequences were unexpected. As messy as the process was, though, it succeeded in producing a functional corporate income tax.
Which is to say, if you have any interest in tax, you need to read this book. And even if you don’t have any interest in tax, if you are interested in the legislative process or in economic history (or even on the impact of war on fiscal policy), this book is for you. Although the tax law has an unfortunate (and inaccurate) reputation for dryness, From Sword to Shield is anything but. The prose is accessible and compelling; the policy issues are well-explained and cogent. And the history will help give more depth and context as you listen to or participate in debates about the future of corporate taxation.
