ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the history of United States (US) fiscal performance since 1970, with a special focus on these attempts to create new sources of fiscal discipline through changes to the budget process. Indeed, since the 1980s, Republicans have replaced their historical focus on balanced budgets with a sustained drive for tax reduction. The brand of tax politics embraced by Republican leaders in the mid-1970s nationalized earlier popular opposition to taxation and resonated powerfully with members of a silent majority buffeted by the era's relative economic decline. In addition, deliberate policy changes and exogenous economic factors worked to reduce the contribution of corporate income taxes to overall revenue collection. Corporate profits grew tremendously over this period, but the increasing globalization of American business has removed a large share of these profits from the taxman's grasp. Business taxpayers have grown increasingly sophisticated at manipulating the tax laws to minimize tax liabilities.
