Increasingly linked by regional and global ties, national economies depend more than ever on international investments and trade. Agreements such as NAFTA in North America and the regional integration of the European Union facilitate cross-border commerce. While trade has become international, however, taxation has remained national, preserving and strengthening one of the few remaining barriers to the flow of cross-national investments.

In Globalization and Its Tax Discontents, some of the world's leading international tax scholars identify the ways that taxes can inhibit...