It is my pleasure to welcome you to what I am certain will be a stimulating address by Richard Epstein, professor of law at the University of Chicago and a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution. This is professor Epstein’s fourth visit to New Zealand. We are very fortunate to have him again and, in particular, to hear him speak on the case for a flat tax.
The topic is relevant to New Zealand. It is also close to my own heart as chairman of the 2001 government tax review that recommended a move to flatten the tax scale. Our recommendation was driven by the knowledge that the highest tax rates do the most damage to the growth potential of an economy. That is an efficiency argument. In addition, a good case can be made on grounds of fairness for a flat or proportionate tax. Such a tax structure is also administratively simpler.
I am certain that professor Epstein will add to our arguments for favouring a flatter personal income tax scale.
This lecture, The Case for a Flat Tax, was given on 5 August 2004, to a New Zealand Business Roundtable audience at the offices of Ernst & Young, Auckland.