"Abstract: This essay considers the appropriate conceptual framework for assessing the taxation of private transfers to individuals. Although it is conventional to emphasize the role of estate and gift taxation or inheritance taxation in redistributing income from the rich to the poor, the...

"The NBER Bulletin on Aging and Health provides summaries of publications like this. You can sign up to receive the NBER Bulletin on Aging and Health by email. This paper provides a non-technical overview of the economic arguments related to the desirability of transfer taxation and a summary of...

Das Konzept einer redistributiven Sozialpolitik scheint schon seit längerem in Deutschland an seine Grenzen gestoßen zu sein: Die durchgehend mit einer erheblichen Umverteilungskomponente versehenen sozialen Sicherungssysteme haben einerseits zu unerträglichen Belastungen insbesondere der...

Inheriting money can be a problem since the new wealth might sap the beneficiaries' incentive to work. Or it could do the opposite, by facilitating entrepreneurship among those whose ambition to start a business had been stymied by a lack of cash. Recent evidence suggests inheritance-related...