Public Economics in Action: The Basic Income/Flat Tax Proposal (The Lindahl Lectures)
Worth buying if: interested in A. B. Atkinson's policy reasoning.
Skip it if: seeking a partisan manifesto or polemic.
Exact edition: Hardcover · ISBN-13 9780198283362. The Amazon link uses this ISBN, so the product page should open to the edition shown here.
If this page helped you decide, purchasing through the Amazon button above supports UPB Books at no extra cost to you and helps us continue improving the site. Thanks for visiting today.
Check Amazon for the current price and availability of this exact edition.
Affiliate disclosure: purchases made through links on this site may earn us a commission at no additional cost to you.
Summary
Public Economics in Action distills Atkinson's 1995 Lindahl Lectures into a concise argument for a universal basic income financed by a flat-rate tax, balancing equity concerns with administrative simplicity over 169 pages.
Why this book now
As debates over basic income and tax reform reappear in policy debates, Atkinson's Oxford University Press lectures remain a focused reference on combining the two ideas.
30-second preview
Two quick cards, fifteen seconds each.
Card 1 of 2
Best for readers who...
Good fit if you want...
- interested in A. B. Atkinson's policy reasoning.
- curious about basic income financed by a flat tax.
- When you want immersive details, the era comes alive through details and research.
- seeking a partisan manifesto or polemic.
- expecting extensive empirical case studies or modern data-heavy analysis.
- You are specifically hunting for the newest framing rather than a backlist perspective.
Decided it fits?
Exact edition: Hardcover · ISBN-13 9780198283362
Worth buying if: interested in A. B. Atkinson's policy reasoning.
Skip it if: seeking a partisan manifesto or polemic.
Check Amazon for the current price and availability of this exact edition.
Reader guide
Cues to help you decide faster.
Reading commitment
Light Short sit-downs
At 169 pages, this compact lecture-based book is a single-sitting read for policy readers or a couple of focused sessions for careful note-taking.
What stands out here
This Oxford University Press edition preserves Atkinson's Lindahl Lectures structure and emphasizes conceptual clarity over empirical updates.
Best way to approach it
Read slowly through the central proposal sections, taking time to follow Atkinson's fiscal arithmetic and normative trade-offs between redistribution and simplicity.
Was this page helpful?
Quick thumbs only. No login.
Loading feedback…
Hardcover: ISBN-13 9780198283362
Check Amazon for the current price and availability of this exact edition.