Capital Taxation under Political Constraints
研究在政治改革威胁下，最优动态税收政策如何设计，发现最优边际资本税呈累进或U形，对穷人和中产阶级储蓄补贴，对富人征税。
This paper studies optimal dynamic tax policy under the threat of political reform. A policy will be reformed ex post if a large enough coalition of citizens supports reform; thus, sustainable policies are those that will continue to attract enough political support in the future. We find that optimal marginal capital taxes are either progressive or U-shaped, so that savings are subsidized for the poor and/or the middle class but are taxed for the rich. U-shaped capital taxes always emerge when individuals' political behavior is purely determined by economic motives.