John Tiley and the Thunder of History

The aim of this paper is twofold – first, to present a selective overview of the work undertaken in connection with the series of tax history conferences initiated in 2002 by the late Professor John Tiley and hosted by the University of Cambridge; and, secondly, to examine Joseph Schumpeter's claim that the ‘thunder of history' can best be discerned by looking at taxation. In other words, the aim is to assess Schumpeter's claim by reference to the work of what might be called the Tiley School of Tax History