Cheating the Government: The Economics of Evasion.

Tax scams involving the rich famous make eye-catching news copy. They also are part of a significant growing economic problem - the shadow that defrauds the government. Frank Cowell is one of the worlds leading contributors to the theoretical economic analysis of tax evasion. In this book he systematically studies the underground economy to examine how certain types of economic analysis can be applied to tax evaders. He also recommends measures that can be taken to counteract the problem.Cowell's investigation raises questions that go to the heart of public economics reveals the shortcomings of applying standard economic models of crime to tax evasion. He develops an analytical framework that shows how the underground economy grows suggests simple economic mechanisms that will induce the behavior that leads to tax evasion.Having laid the analytical groundwork, Cowell turns to policy. He observes that standard welfare-based arguments against cheating are decidedly flaccid points toward an enforcement policy that is informed by economic analysis, particularly in terms of scope practicality.Frank A. Cowell is Reader in Economics at the London School of Economics the author of Measuring Inequality and Microeconomic Principles.