{"product_id":"the-hidden-welfare-state-tax-expenditures-and-social-policy-in-the-united-states-9780691005294","title":"The Hidden Welfare State: Tax Expenditures and Social Policy in the United States","description":"\u003cp\u003eDespite costing hundreds of billions of dollars and subsidizing everything from homeownership and child care to health insurance  tax expenditures (commonly known as tax loopholes) have received little attention from those who study American government. This oversight has contributed to an incomplete and misleading portrait of U.S. social policy. Here Christopher Howard analyzes the \"hidden\" welfare state created by such programs as tax deductions for home mortgage interest and employer-provided retirement pensions  the Earned Income Tax Credit  and the Targeted Jobs Tax Credit. Basing his work on the histories of these four tax expenditures  Howard highlights the distinctive characteristics of all such policies. Tax expenditures are created more routinely and quietly than traditional social programs  for instance  and over time generate unusual coalitions of support. They expand and contract without deliberate changes to individual programs.  Howard helps the reader to appreciate the historic links between the hidden welfare state and U.S. tax policy  which accentuate the importance of Congress and political parties. He also focuses on the reasons why individuals  businesses  and public officials support tax expenditures. The Hidden Welfare State will appeal to anyone interested in the origins  development  and structure of the American welfare state. Students of public finance will gain new insights into the politics of taxation. And as policymakers increasingly promote tax expenditures to address social problems  the book offers some sobering lessons about how such programs work.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45647086977077,"sku":"ByrdShop_069100529X","price":27.2,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9780691005294.jpg?v=1781688444","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/the-hidden-welfare-state-tax-expenditures-and-social-policy-in-the-united-states-9780691005294","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}