The macroeconomic effects of tax reforms and post-Keynesian incidence theory.

Summary As Michàl Kalecki points out, the publication of the General Theory highlighted the impact of taxation on economic growth. The General Theory, especially in chapter XXXVI, highlighted the beneficial effects that taxation can have on society, but without really developing the important macroeconomic aspects. It was Kalecki (1937-1944) who really brought out the macroeconomic properties of taxation in the short term, by studying how changes in the tax structure influence redistribution and macroeconomic dynamics. However, the question of tax incidence has been dealt with mainly by the standard approach, in which taxation is observed from the point of view of its disincentive effects on supply factors. This observation is not exceptional if we take into account the academic stance taken by economics since the effectiveness of Keynesian policies was called into question and the development of ideas on incentive issues in the early 1980s, particularly those relating to individual activity behaviour. We have to go back to the 1920s to find an analytical description of a theory of tax incidence. At that time Pigou was asked by a young mathematician named Ramsey: What structure of property taxation could minimize the loss of welfare at a given revenue level?