Milhouse Speaks

So, I’m concerned that this post may be too geeky for even a law school blog, but hear me out: Boalt’s own Alan Auerbach, a world-class public finance economist who holds a joint appointment in the economics department, is proposing to teach a tax policy seminar next fall. This course has been offered on and off by him (and formerly by Professor Emeritus John McNulty) for a long time. It’s been described to me as a very special opportunity, and I’m pretty excited about it. Unfortunately, only two people are presently enrolled, and I suspect it’s very unlikely he’ll teach the course for just two people.

This is therefore my plea to anyone sitting on the fence, juggling options, sifting possibilities, or otherwise open to the possibility: sign up! Get two credits. Spend your Monday mornings arguing about income versus consumption tax, the incidence of the corporate income tax, and whether we tax the rich for any better reason than the one Billy the Kid gave for robbing banks.

The course description lists Tax I as a prerequisite, but suggests that other courses in public finance would also serve. Feel free to call me up if you need to be convinced that tax is a fascinating and necessary subject to study even if (like me) you never expect to do transactional law.