David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants

bankruptcy for years—would all but
disappear if Greek citizens obeyed the
law and paid what they owed. Why is
America so much more law-abiding
when it comes to taxes than Greece?
Leites and Wolf would attribute that
to the fact that the costs of tax evasion in
the United States are much greater than
the benefits: that if Americans cheat,
there’s a good chance they’ll get caught
and punished. But that’s completely
untrue. In the United States, a little more
than 1 percent of tax returns are audited
every year. That’s tiny. And if they get
caught underreporting their income, the
most common penalty is simply paying
back taxes plus a relatively modest fine.
Jail time is rare. If American taxpayers