Christine Ries, professor in the School of Economics, was invited to testify to the Fair Tax Study Committee empanneled last week by Senator Judson Hill.  In the first of three meetings, as the lead presenter, Dr. Ries presented a critical analysis of Georgia tax reform initiatives in the last five years, especially those issue raised while she served on the Special Council for Tax Reform and Fairness in 2010.  Dr. Ries described the fundamentals of pro-growth tax reform packages and the political concerns that challenge such reforms.  

She also explained that politicians will need to earn back the trust of voters before they can expect to be successful with any new tax reform initiatives, and she described her model www.taxreformthegame.com.  This is a web-interfaced simulator, actively used by legislators and available to the public, that creates simulation of the effects of various blends of tax reform components.  Additionally, she described the ongoing efforts at tax reform in other states and the likely impact on Georgia's competitiveness at attracting new business to the state.  This is the subject of her capstone course for Georgia Tech majors in economics.  Sources:  Georgia Public Policy Foundation, July 17, 2013.

                The Atlanta Business Chronicle, July 26, 2013.  

Content Type: external_news
Submitted By: Claire Woodring