Taxpayers in Revolt: Tax Resistance During the Great Depression.

Taxpayers in Revolt: Tax Resistance During the Great Depression. Beito, David T. Taxpayers in Revolt: Tax Resistance During theGreat Depression. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press The University of North Carolina Press (or UNC Press), founded in 1922, is a university press that is part of the University of North Carolina. External linkUniversity of North Carolina Press ,1989. Pp. ix, 216. Ladd, Helen F. and John Yinger. America's Ailing Cities:Fiscal Health and the Design of Urban Policy. Baltimore: The JohnsHopkins University Johns Hopkins University,mainly at Baltimore, Md. Johns Hopkins in 1867 had a group of his associates incorporated as the trustees of a university and a hospital, endowing each with $3.5 million. Daniel C. Press, 1989. Pp. xi, 334. The economic vitality of cities has been and continues to be ofinterest to policy makers, politicians, citizens and scholars as theyseek to understand municipal fiscal processes: why are city services The examples and perspective in this article or section may represent an unduly geographically limited view of the subject.Please [ improve this article] or discuss the issue on the talk page. cut, why are municipal infrastructures allowed to decay and why aretaxes continually increasing? Two new publications, Helen F. Ladd andJohn Yinger's America's Ailing Cities and Thomas Beito'sTaxpayers in Revolt examine these issues from fresh perspectives. Ratherthan focusing upon such traditional subjects as tax structure or theallocation of funds, these scholars consider how external factorsaffected local economies and examine the impact of popular responsesupon revenue raising initiatives. Ladd and Yinger scrutinized a voluminous body of municipal economicdata to define factors, beyond local budgetary decisions, that determinefiscal health. Fiscal health, the authors explain, "is the abilityof a city to deliver public services Public services is a term usually used to mean services provided by government to its citizens, either directly (through the public sector) or by financing private provision of services. to its residences." Theycontinue to explain that "this fiscal health is the balance betweena city's ability to raise revenue and the amount it must spend toobtain services of average quality." The authors examine fiscalhealth by calculating city service responsibilities and measuring themagainst the revenue raising capacity of municipalities. They concludethat state and federal institutions have a critical impact upon acity's ability to generate revenue. In addition, incentives forinfrastructural development, non-resident taxation policies and thedivision of responsibilities for municipal services between city andstate are all factors which bear directly upon the state of acity's fiscal health. In an exhaustive quantitative analysis Quantitative AnalysisA security analysis that uses financial information derived from company annual reports and income statements to evaluate an investment decision.Notes: , Ladd and Yinger consideredthe impact of these factors on eighty-six cities between 1972 and 1982.They limited their sample to municipalities with a population of atleast 300,000 and to those central to one of the fifty largest majormetropolitan areas, and concluded that smaller cities tend to behealthier than larger cities. Primarily, they found that smaller citieshad a greater opportunity to benefit from state and federal policiespromoting fiscal healthfulness health��ful?adj.1. Conducive to good health; salutary.2. Healthy. See Usage Note at healthy.health than did the major cities. However, whenlarger cities received assistance proportional to their size they alsoprospered. Such an observation underlies Ladd and Yinger'srecommendation that states need to devise policies and institutions thatwill promote municipal healthfulness. This study is thorough, well-researched, and well-documented; Laddand Yinger wrote a sophisticated economic analysis of the fiscalcondition of America's cities. However, the appeal of this bookremains limited to a specialized audience. Its narrative relies heavilyupon the professional jargon of the economist in spite of the authorsefforts to elucidate e��lu��ci��date?v. e��lu��ci��dat��ed, e��lu��ci��dat��ing, e��lu��ci��datesv.tr.To make clear or plain, especially by explanation; clarify.v.intr.To give an explanation that serves to clarify. it with numerous tables and graphs complemented byregular explanations of their meticulous research methodology. Nonetheless, Ladd and Yinger do a fine job documenting trends andfactors affecting fiscal health in American cities between 1972 and1982. They do not, however, delve into motivations for the observationsthey make. This is where the authors fall short, for the reader is leftwith an incomplete sense as to why state and local policy developed asit did. Motivations for economic policies are not beyond the scope ofThomas Beito's study of tax resistance during the depression of the1930s. Though the focus of this work is on both positive and negativeresponses to local taxation, Beito also examines the process of policymaking and the structure of taxes levied in the 1930s. Although hisefforts focus primarily on Chicago, he does make efforts to demonstratethe typicality of the activities of the Windy City to other cities ofthe time. Generally, Beito finds that when tax resistance becameinstitutionalized in��sti��tu��tion��al��ize?tr.v. in��sti��tu��tion��al��ized, in��sti��tu��tion��al��iz��ing, in��sti��tu��tion��al��iz��es1. a. To make into, treat as, or give the character of an institution to.b. , in the form of taxpayers leagues for example, many ofits goals were achieved. During the middle of the decade tax resistancegave way to tax promotion. Beginning in 1933, urban power brokers,politicians, and institutionalized reform movements spearheaded mediacampaigns to encourage the payment of taxes "to save thecity." In the case of tax generation as well as in the case of taxresistance, organization brings results, according to according toprep.1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians.2. In keeping with: according to instructions.3. Beito. In an interesting introduction and conclusion, Beito attempts toplace the popular movements of the thirties in a larger historicalcontext. He reminds his audience that popular responses to taxation haveplayed a central role throughout history. As one example, Beito pointsto the colonial and early national efforts in this regard. This is aninteresting parallel and one that might have yielded yet more profithad it been more fully developed. Instead, Taxpayers in Revolt remains closely focused upon theincidents and activities of Chicago's citizenry during the 1930s.Beito defends this emphasis by arguing that while Chicago's populartax resistance was typical of what happened in other cities, the publicreaction to taxes in the Windy City was extraordinarily widespread.Naturally, more extensive study of the municipal taxpayers activities isneeded both regionally and historically to confirm the typicality ofthis work. This is not to indicate that Taxpayers in Revolt deliversless than it promises; it is a thoroughly researched analysis of aheretofore understudied aspect of a much studied period, and is avaluable addition to the historical literature. Together, Beito, Ladd and Yinger add much to our understanding oftaxation policy and public response. Though these two books have littlein common in terms of method, subject, or content, they both provideinsights into urban fiscal processes that may be useful to the lobbyist,decision maker and scholar of the urban experience. Joanne Abel Goldman Center for Historical Studies of Science and Technology Iowa StateUniversity AcademicsISU is best known for its degree programs in science, engineering, and agriculture. ISU is also home of the world's first electronic digital computing device, the Atanasoff–Berry Computer.