Just Taxes The Politics of Taxation in Britain, 1914}}}1979 [Paperback]

Just Taxes offers an analysis of the politics of taxation in the twentieth century.This major work of original synthesis explores the politics of taxation in the twentieth century. In 1979, taxes took almost half of the total national income, and contributed to the rise of Margaret Thatcher. But the level of taxation had risen from 10% in 1914 to about 25% between the wars, without provoking serious discontent as in other European countries; and it rose again with the Second World War. Why were these earlier tax increases accepted--and why was there such discontent by 1979?This major work of original synthesis explores the politics of taxation in the twentieth century. In 1979, taxes took almost half of the total national income, and contributed to the rise of Margaret Thatcher. But the level of taxation had risen from 10% in 1914 to about 25% between the wars, without provoking serious discontent as in other European countries; and it rose again with the Second World War. Why were these earlier tax increases accepted--and why was there such discontent by 1979?This original work explores the politics of British taxation in the twentieth century. By 1979, taxes were taken from almost half of the total national income, and contributed to the political rise of Margaret Thatcher. But the level of taxation had risen from 10% in 1914 to about 25% between the wars, without provoking serious discontent (as in other European countries). It also grew again during the Second World War. This study explores the reasons that the earlier tax increases were accepted, and not those of 1979.List of figures; List of tables; Preface; List of abbreviations; 1. The taxing state: an introduction; 2. 'The limits of our taxable capacity': war finance, 19141918; 3. 'This hideous war memorial': debt and taxation, 19181925; 4. 'Adjusting the particular turns of the different screws': reforming the income tax, 19201929; 5. 'The great conflict of modern politics': redistribution, depressionl7