Sometimes the principles of taxation are hard to see in those taxes with which we are very familiar. Dr. Slemrod will focus on taxes from the past that may at first seem far-fetched or even ridiculous - such as taxing windows or wigs. With some persistence one can make some rationale for these taxes, benign or malevolent.

Joel Slemrod is Paul W. McCracken Collegiate Professor of Business Economics and 
Public Policy at the Stephen M. Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan, and Professor of Economics in the Department of Economics. He serves as Director of the Office of Tax Policy Research. Dr. Slemrod received an A.B. degree from Princeton and a PhD in economics from Harvard University.

This is the fifth lecture in the series of nine Distinguished Lectures. The next lecture in the series will be February 9, 2016. The title is: "Turkey: At the Crossroads of the World Once Again."

http://www.olli-umich.org/programs_activities/lectures/Osher_Dist_Lec_Series.pdf