Twenty Years After Tax Reform: Time for Another Round?

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Monday, October 16
National Press Club, 529 14th St., NW, Washington, DC
8:15 a.m. to 2:45 p.m.

Twenty years after enactment of the Tax Reform Act of 1986, this conference reviewed the politics and economics that drove the 1986 act, discussed problems with the current tax law that create a need for another round of reform in the near future, and scoped out the possible shape and long-term viability of future tax reform.

Conference Agenda

Date: October 16, 2006

Place: National Press Club

Agenda:

8:15-8:45 - Continental Breakfast

8:45-9:00 - Welcome

Leonard Burman, Urban Institute/Tax Policy Center

9:00-10:15 - Setting the Stage

Moderator:

Christopher Bergin, Tax Analysts

Panelists:

Joseph Thorndike, Tax Analysts
The Tax Reform Act of 1986 in Historical Perspective

Charles McLure, Hoover Institution, Stanford University
Tax Reform and Economic Incentives

Christopher Howard, College of William and Mary
The Politics of Taxation: Public Opinion and Political Parties

10:15-10:30 - Coffee Break

10:30-11:45 - Action-Forcing Events

Moderator:

Eric Toder, The Urban Institute/Tax Policy Center

Panelists:

Joseph Minarik, Committee for Economic Development
Tax Reform and Future Revenue Needs

William Gale, The Brookings Institution/Tax Policy Center
Why the Current Tax Law is Unsustainable

Lindy Paull, PricewaterhouseCoopers
Tax Shelters and Other Sources of the Tax Gap

Lawrence Gibbs, Miller and Chevalier
Tax Reform and Tax Administration

12:00-1:30 - Lunch

Speaker:

Jeffrey Birnbaum, The Washington Post
Introduction by Eugene Steuerle, the Urban Institute

1:30-2:45 - Moving Forward

Moderator:

Pamela Olson, Skadden, Arps

Panelists:

Eugene Steuerle, The Urban Institute/Tax Policy Center
A Consensus Base for Reform

Douglas Holtz-Eakin, Council on Foreign Relations
Why a Consumption Tax is the Way to Go

Rudy Penner, Urban Institute/Tax Policy Center
Can Budget Rules Force Good Tax Policy?

The conference is cosponsored with the American Tax Policy Institute and Tax Analysts.