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World Taxpayers Associations 2008 Members Conference a Success

Recently, fiscal policy experts and taxpayer advocates from around the world convened in Atlanta, GA for the annual World Taxpayers Associations (WTA) Members Conference. The event is designed to share strategies, conduct research, and mutually advocate for limited government.

The conference was held at the Sheraton-Atlanta in conjunction with the Heritage Foundation's 31st annual Resource Bank, which gathers more than 500 think tank executives, policy experts, elected officials, and others to discuss advancing free markets and limited government in public policy. At the same time, the Atlas Economic Research Foundation hosted its 8th annual Atlas Liberty Forum for similar policy discussions.

The WTA portion of the conference featured several exciting sessions, including a mini-seminar on "The Optimal Size of Government" with expert speakers Lew Uhler, Richard Vedder, Dan Mitchell, and Larry Hunter. WTA members in attendance hailed from many countries (see photos), and most were able to report encouraging progress despite resistance from special interests in their own nations to tax and expenditure reforms. In Japan, a gasoline tax was recently repealed, while in Sweden the property tax has been eradicated. Groups ranging from the Philippines to Uganda discussed constant battles against corruption among public officials, while throughout WTA's membership there were reports of increased interest in replacing burdensome income tax systems with flat-rate alternatives. WTA also welcomed two new member associations to its ranks, from Hong Kong and from the nation of Cameroon.