Episode · The Ezra Klein Show · 2026-04-17
Books mentioned on Our Tax System Should Make You Furious | The Ezra Klein Show
Ezra Klein discussed Taxation: the People's Business by Andrew William Mellon. Ray Madoff recommended The Age of Extraction by Tim Wu, The Rise and Fall of the Neoliberal Order by Gary Gerstle, and Crossroads by Jonathan Franzen.
Books mentioned, in the order they came up
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Taxation: the People's Business
Discussed“This is from Andrew Mellon’s 1924 book "Taxation: the People’s Business." He writes the fairness of taxing more lightly income from wages, salaries or from investments is beyond question.”
Where to get it
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The Age of Extraction
The Age of Extraction by Tim Wu is an incisive examination of how major technology companies and modern corporations have shifted from generating genuine wealth and public good to extracting value from the economy at the expense of societal prosperity.
Recommended“The first book is "The Age of Extraction" by Tim Wu. This is a fantastic book that talks about how many of our companies that used to do a lot of good for the world are now, rather than producing wealth, they are doing wealth extraction”
Where to get it
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The Rise and Fall of the Neoliberal Order
The Rise and Fall of the Neoliberal Order by Gary Gerstle explores the emergence, dominance, and ultimate crisis of neoliberalism as a dominant political and economic paradigm.
Recommended“The other is the book, "The Rise and Fall of the Neoliberal Order" by Gary Gerstle. And I like this. All past guests of the show Tim Wu, Gary Gerstle Yeah, I love yeah, these are great books.”
Where to get it
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Crossroads
Jonathan Franzen's novel "Crossroads" is a sprawling domestic drama set during the early 1970s that delves deep into the moral crises and religious yearnings of a suburban Chicago family.
Recommended“And the last book is a book of fiction, the book "Crossroads" by Jonathan Franzen, fiction at any time, and particularly in these times, is just a fantastic place to live, to explore other things than the world that we’re living in.”
Where to get it
Other mentions in this episode (1) — ad reads, self-promotion and passing references, never counted
“Ray Madoff is a professor at Boston College Law School who specializes in tax law and estate planning and is the author of "The Second Estate: How the Tax Code Made an American Aristocracy"”