About John O. Fox
From 1964 through 2000, I practiced law in Washington, D.C., specializing in tax and related matters; for a number of those years, I taught tax planning at Catholic University's Law School. After moving to Massachusetts in 1984, I combined a part-time law practice in Washington, D.C. with teaching courses on U.S. tax policy and poverty in the U.S. at Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Massachusetts. I have written two books, If Americans Really Understood the Income Tax (2001) and 10 Tax Questions the Candidates Don't Want You to Ask (2004), as well as numerous op-eds about tax issues for newspapers and other publications throughout the country.
I have updated my 10 Tax Questions book from 2004 for the same reasons that prompted the book then. Politicians from both parties speak about taxes in sound bites that make policies sound better or worse than they are. It is my hope that, with these 10 questions about important tax issues, framed in a manner that readers can understand, Americans will be able to form their own judgments about which policies make most sense. Some readers might even feel empowered to ask presidential or Congressional candidates the questions. With their answers, we would understand a good deal about the basic values of candidates as well as how they think about tax issues.
Acknowledgments
I am indebted to talented friends and family for the generous help they gave in developing this book. These include Andrew Carroll, Joseph Fox, Margaret Fox, John Korbel, Ted Marmor, Pete Reider, Robert Repetto, Sam Roberson, and Chris Sullivan. I am particularly grateful to Ann Hamilton, who generously reviewed the entire manuscript and offered invaluable comments, large and small, on every aspect of the book, and to Bronwen Hodgkinson at cdeVision, for so capably developing this website. Finally, I have been encouraged and supported throughout this enterprise by my wife, Gretchen.
Curriculum Vitae
Teaching:
- 1978 - 1983, Adjunct Professor of Law, Catholic University, Washington, D.C.
- 1985 to present: Visiting Associate Professor, Mt. Holyoke College, South Hadley, Massachusetts; teach "Winners and Losers: Taxation, Social Justice, and Economic Growth;" and "Poverty in the United States"
Books:
- If Americans Really Understood the Income Tax: Uncovering Our Most Expensive Ignorance (Westview Press, 2001)
- 10 Tax Questions the Candidates Don't Want You to Ask (Amherst: self-published, 2004)
Law Reviews:
- "Estate: A Word To Be Used Cautiously, If At All," Harvard Law Review, 1968
Opinion Articles:
- Capital-gains movement is bad for democracy,@ The Boston Globe, August 22, 1989.
- When neutrality isn't: April 15. The so-called marriage tax can mean gain or drain; it's all in your numbers,@ The Boston Sunday Globe, April 5, 1998.
- Speak in Code. Instead of cutting taxes, Congress ought to ax some of the increasingly complex rules,@ The Washington Post, May 27, 2001.
- Reality check must conclude in a demand for higher taxes,@ The Boston Herald, October 19, 2002.
- Tax deduction on mortgages favors the rich over the poor,@ Telegram&Gazette, December 30, 2002.
- Bush tax cut plan's wrong remedy for economy,@ Sunday Republican, February 13, 2003.
- You Call This Relief? I Don't,@ The Washington Post, May 18, 2003.
- The Wrong Prescription. We Should Help Needy Seniors First, But We Can't Even Afford That,@ The Washington Post, October 12, 2003.
- Don't know jack about taxes. Don't laugh. The tax code's complexity and inequity mean the joke's on us,@ The Atlanta-Journal Constitution, April 10, 2004.
- For Singles, April Really Is the Cruelest Month,@ The Washington Post, April 11, 2004.
- Missing graduation,@ TomPaine.commonsense.com, April 12, 2004
- The Tax Break That Corporate Execs Don't Need,@ The Washington Post, July 25, 2004.
- Saving Social Security,@ The Valley Advocate, January 13, 2005.
- Tax Breaks Hurting Low-Income Students,@ The Hartford Courant, May 3, 2006.
- “Taxes are dues for membership in society,” Sunday Republican, October 29, 2006
Past Practice of Law: from 1964 through 2000, engaged in the private practice of law in Washington, D.C., specializing in tax, business, financial, real estate, and estate planning matters
Other Activities:
- 1981- 1992: member, Board of Directors, OEF International, Washington, D.C., a private voluntary organization assisting women in less developed countries
- 1985 - 1992: member, Commission on Institutes of Higher Education, New England Association of Colleges and Universities (accredited post-secondary colleges and universities in New England)
- 1994 - 1997: member, Committee on Recognition of the Commissions on Recognition of Post-secondary Accreditation (accredited post-secondary accrediting organizations nationwide)
Academic Background:
- A.B., Harvard College, magna cum laude, Cambridge, Massachusetts
- London School of Economics and Political Science, London, England (graduate study)
- L.L.B., Boalt Hall School of Law, University of California at Berkeley
- L.L.M. in taxation, Georgetown University, Washington, D.C.