A Test of the Theory of Optimal Taxation for the United States, 1869-1989
检验了最优税收理论中税率应遵循随机游走的假说，通过考虑政府平滑税收扭曲影响、实际利率外生变化以及产出税收弹性随时间变化，发现政府会贴现未来并平滑税收对消费边际效用的扭曲影响。
A popular theory of optimal tax policies suggests that tax rates should follow a random walk. This paper extends the existing empirical literature in three ways. First, the impact on the marginal utility of consumption when the government chooses a tax plan to smooth the distorting impact of taxes is considered. Second, exogenous changes in the real rate of interest are incorporated into the government's optimal tax plan. Finally, the tax elasticity of output is not constant over time. Allowing for these changes, there is evidence that the government discounts the future, attempts to smooth the distorting impact of taxes on the marginal utility of consumption, and that the tax elasticity of output moves predictably during wars. Copyright 1993 by MIT Press.