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The Greedy Hand: How Taxes Drive Americans Crazy and What to Do About It
The Greedy Hand is an illuminating examination of the culture of tax and a persuasive call for reform, written by one of the nation's leading policy makers, Amity Shlaes of The Wall Street Journal .
The father of the modern American state was an obscure Macy's department store executive named Beardsley Ruml. During World War II, he devised the plan for withholding taxes from your paycheck, thereby laying in place a system that allows the hand of government to reach into your wallet and take what it wants.
Today, taxes make up more than a third of our economy, the highest level in history outside war. We live in the nation revolutionary father Thomas Paine foresaw when he wrote of "the Greedy Hand of government thrusting itself into every corner of industry." This book is a cultural examination of the way taxes influence our behavior, how they force us into an arbitrary system that punishes families and individual enterprise.
Amity Shlaes unveils the hidden perversities of our lifelong tax how family tax breaks do little to help the family, and can even hurt it. She demonstrates how married women pay a special women's tax rate, higher than anybody else's. She shows how problems that engage and enrage us--Social Security problems, or the things we don't like about schools--are, at heart, tax problems. And she explains why the solutions Washington offers merely accelerate a vicious cycle.
Finally, Amity Shlaes shows us a way out of this madness, endorsing a number of common-sense reforms that will give all Americans a fairer and simpler tax system. Written with eloquent compassion for working Americans and their families, The Greedy Hand makes the best case yet for rethinking our tax code. It is a book no tax-paying citizen can afford to ignore.
The father of the modern American state was an obscure Macy's department store executive named Beardsley Ruml. During World War II, he devised the plan for withholding taxes from your paycheck, thereby laying in place a system that allows the hand of government to reach into your wallet and take what it wants.
Today, taxes make up more than a third of our economy, the highest level in history outside war. We live in the nation revolutionary father Thomas Paine foresaw when he wrote of "the Greedy Hand of government thrusting itself into every corner of industry." This book is a cultural examination of the way taxes influence our behavior, how they force us into an arbitrary system that punishes families and individual enterprise.
Amity Shlaes unveils the hidden perversities of our lifelong tax how family tax breaks do little to help the family, and can even hurt it. She demonstrates how married women pay a special women's tax rate, higher than anybody else's. She shows how problems that engage and enrage us--Social Security problems, or the things we don't like about schools--are, at heart, tax problems. And she explains why the solutions Washington offers merely accelerate a vicious cycle.
Finally, Amity Shlaes shows us a way out of this madness, endorsing a number of common-sense reforms that will give all Americans a fairer and simpler tax system. Written with eloquent compassion for working Americans and their families, The Greedy Hand makes the best case yet for rethinking our tax code. It is a book no tax-paying citizen can afford to ignore.
255 pages, Hardcover
First published February 16, 1999
31 people are currently reading
315 people want to read
About the author
Amity Shlaes
13 books412 followersAmity Shlaes graduated from Yale University magna cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in English in 1982.
Shlaes writes a column for Forbes, and served as a nationally syndicated columnist for over a decade, first at the Financial Times, then at Bloomberg. Earlier, she worked at the Wall Street Journal, where she was a member of the editorial board. She is the author of "Coolidge," "The Forgotten Man," and "The Greedy Hand, all bestsellers. Her first book, "Germany" was about German reunification.
Miss Shlaes chairs the board of the Calvin Coolidge Memorial Foundation, situated at the birthplace of President Calvin Coolidge. Michael Pack of Manifold Productions is making a documentary film of her movie "Coolidge." Her new book is "Forgotten Man/Graphic" with artist Paul Rivoche. This book is for classrooms and thinkers everywhere.
Shlaes writes a column for Forbes, and served as a nationally syndicated columnist for over a decade, first at the Financial Times, then at Bloomberg. Earlier, she worked at the Wall Street Journal, where she was a member of the editorial board. She is the author of "Coolidge," "The Forgotten Man," and "The Greedy Hand, all bestsellers. Her first book, "Germany" was about German reunification.
Miss Shlaes chairs the board of the Calvin Coolidge Memorial Foundation, situated at the birthplace of President Calvin Coolidge. Michael Pack of Manifold Productions is making a documentary film of her movie "Coolidge." Her new book is "Forgotten Man/Graphic" with artist Paul Rivoche. This book is for classrooms and thinkers everywhere.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
September 23, 2009
I thought this was a great "intro to taxes" book and found it to be very engaging considering the topic. A fairly non-partisan book, it looks at the history of various tax codes and shows the "winners" and "losers" in the ponzi scheme that the U.S. government is operating. Very enlightening and a must read for anyone who pays taxes!
November 11, 2024
This is a marvelous look at the way taxes affect us from birth to death. Included is a well documented discussion of the greedy hand of government reaching every part of life. The premise of the book is that we need tax reform badly. LBJ and his great society introduced taxation as a social engineering tool. We see that even today. Taxes should fund then government. That means we need to discuss how big of a government we really want as Americans. President Jefferson encouraged us to remove unnecessary departments and spending to keep taxes as low as possible. Why don’t we follow that advice today.
The book was written in the late 1990s and some of the examples are very dated. The principles are still there however. The author should update this edition and promote it as a common sense approach to government spending and revenue.
The book was written in the late 1990s and some of the examples are very dated. The principles are still there however. The author should update this edition and promote it as a common sense approach to government spending and revenue.
September 26, 2021
The 5 stars is for the history of our federal taxes started, and then the states and local governments got "on the bandwagon." WELL WORTH understanding how the initial goal of a federal tax has become a monster that devours more and more of those who end up paying the most--the middle class.
Amen.
Amen.
June 11, 2020
Interesting book about how our tax system came into being and how it has grown to its monstrous complexity. Parts are dated but still a good look at the history of taxes and some good ideas for change.
January 2, 2020
Parts are a little dated at this point, but still an easily accessible introduction to the topic.
March 29, 2023
Can't recommend this book highly enough. Wish Ms. Shalaes or another could pick up the project for a 2023 edition.
April 29, 2020
Extremely Covent description of the tax beast
Shakes does as excellent job of outlining how taxes have grown and intruded on every part of America, often in a vain attempt to "fix things." While outlining the problems, the also does a good job of outlining potential solutions, which depend on no longer using the tax code to fix perceived problems.
Shakes does as excellent job of outlining how taxes have grown and intruded on every part of America, often in a vain attempt to "fix things." While outlining the problems, the also does a good job of outlining potential solutions, which depend on no longer using the tax code to fix perceived problems.
April 27, 2010
This is a fun and charming book about why taxes drive people crazy. You'd be surprised at how many reasons there are, and not many have to do with the actual amount of taxes, but instead the reasons have to do with their complexity and perverted incentives. A perfect book to read during Tax Month.
July 24, 2011
sometimes the truth is so aggrivating!
August 23, 2012
This deserved eight stars at least! Loved it! Explains a complex problem in plain, everyday English.
December 1, 2015
great read!
eye-opening history of the evolution of the US tax code
eye-opening history of the evolution of the US tax code
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews