I just stumbled across the most promising thing I’ve seen from the Government in ages. Joint Economic Committee issues its press release on its findings about the Costs and Consequences of the Federal Estate Tax. (PDF)

“When the costs of the estate tax are paired with the benefits, the mistmatch is easey to discern, with the costs far exceeding the benefits… In light of this finding, there is no compelling reason to keep the tax, and a number of reasons to reduce or abolish it.“

The report aims at the true costs in terms of Economic growth, (estimating that it has reduced our stock of capital by almost a trillion dollars), the breaking-up of small businesses, as an impediment to social mobility, inherently unjust, unfair, and inefficient with myriad loopholes or avoidance measures, and environmental effects (often heirs need to sell land to developers to pay the tax). It weighs in at 40+ pages, and I’ve just started skimming it, but it looks very promising.