The Tax History Project, a public service initiative of Tax Analysts, has posted seven papers on its web site.  We will blog one of these papers each day this week.

Historical Perspective: The Windfall Profit Tax — Career of a Concept, by Joseph J. Thorndike (Director of Tax History Project and Contributing Editor, Tax Analysts):

Last week, amid much grumbling about record profits, Congress summoned oil executives to Capitol Hill. Democratic lawmakers warned darkly of a tax on windfall profit, and even a few Republicans endorsed the idea. It’s enough to give a petrocrat pause. Not so very long ago, lawmakers made good on that sort of threat. From 1980 to 1988, the nation levied a special tax on domestic oil production. Given the unhappy results, a repeat seems unlikely. But it’s still a tale worth telling.