Rather than list and describe the various taxes that affect our lives, Shlaes has organized the book into chapters that each deal with a perspective of life. This strategy enables focus on how taxes affect and sometimes determine the choices we make throughout our lifetimes. For example, chapter two describes the huge impact sales taxes have on our consumption choices. No, it s the Mall of America in suburban Minneapolis-St. You see, Minnesota doesn t impose sales taxes on clothing purchases.
People travel from the world over to take advantage of the resulting low prices.
Other chapters deal with the impact of taxes on choices about home ownership, marriage, kids, school, work, your accountant, success, retirement and death. As you make your way through the book, you will find that you have painlessly, and often enjoyably, learned a tremendous amount about income, social security, property, sales and estate taxes. The lone weakness of the book, despite the implication of the subtitle, is in the discussion of what to do about the tax mess. Shlaes offers a few suggestions in the final, brief chapter, including lowering and simplifying taxes, privatization of social security and decentralization of taxation from the federal government back to local governments. She fails, however, to provide substantive detail or to address problems her cures might evoke.