America's tax system is a mess. In this groundbreaking book, Jim Hartung, an expert systems engineer, proposes a plan to fix it, using the same process engineers use to develop complex products such as aircraft and spacecraft.

Rational Tax Reform uses system engineering to develop a comprehensive tax reform proposal that:

• Balances the federal budget, funds universal health care, and restores Social Security to financial health without increasing the burden on taxpayers
• Simplifies the tax code and makes it fairer by eliminating all itemized deductions and most tax credits, tax preferences, and loopholes
• Stimulates economic growth by decreasing tax rates and replacing the corporate income tax with a more efficient value-added tax
• Includes features to control government spending, address climate change, and reduce political corruption

The proposed tax reform is only one example of many possible alternatives--yet it clearly illustrates how systems engineering could enable rational, enlightened, and nonpartisan tax reform.

Rational Tax Reform also describes how systems engineering can be used to address other social, economic, and political problems beyond tax reform.