Professor Edward McCaffery

An internationally recognized expert in tax law, Edward McCaffery focuses on tax policy, tax structures, public finance theory (including behavioral public finance), property law and theory, intellectual property, and law and economics. He teaches courses such as Federal Income Taxation, Property, Intellectual Property, Tax Law and Policy, Corporate Taxation, Partnership Taxation, and a Tax Policy seminar at USC. McCaffery’s scholarship is widely cited by economists, government officials, journalists, and policy analysts. His notable publications include Behavioral Public Finance (co-edited), Fair Not Flat: How to Make the Tax System Better and Simpler, which advocates for taxing spending rather than income, and Taxing Women, which critiques how current tax laws disadvantage working women. He also co-edited Rethinking the Vote: The Politics and Prospects of American Election Reform, and his upcoming book, A New Understanding of Property, is set to be published this year.

To make tax and public finance concepts accessible to a broader audience, McCaffery created the People’s Tax Page and a series of animated cartoons featuring Sabrina the Unicorn. He is also a frequent commentator on tax-related issues in the news.