Theory and Practice of Excise Taxation

Book excerpt: Excise taxes are not only convenient sources of government revenue, they can also be designed to reflect the external costs of excisable products, such as global warming, acid rain, traffic congestion, and the costs of cigarette and alcohol consumption. This book by internationally recognized experts analyses the art of excise taxation, providing a systematic, insightful, and often provocative treatment of a major fiscal instrument that policy-makers often neglect, and that gets little attention in the professional literature.