Lecture 7: Shifting Goalposts: The Anti-Tax Movement

Why was the estate tax, which is paid by only the wealthiest two percent of Americans, repealed in 2001 with broad bipartisan support? Prof. Shapiro unravels this puzzle in this lecture by going over the origins of the anti-tax movement, the logic of referendum politics, and 1994 as a pivot point. He then hones in on the estate tax repeal as a case study, discusses tax cuts and the Republican coalition and how far the goalposts have shifted for today's U.S. tax politics.