James Tobin (October 23, 1945 – December 15, 2021) was an American economist and former teacher. He is the founder of Taxpayers United of America. Tobin died December 15, 2021, in

Berwyn, Illinois Berwyn () is a suburban city in Cook County, Illinois, United States, Coterminous municipality, coterminous with Berwyn Township, Illinois, Berwyn Township, which was formed in 1908 after breaking off from Cicero Township, Cook County, Illinois, ...

Early life

Tobin was born in

Chicago, Illinois Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

. He earned a B.A. in economics with a minor in finance at St. Joseph College. After college, Tobin studied American history and earned an M.A. in international economics from

Northern Illinois University Northern Illinois University (NIU) is a public research university in DeKalb, Illinois, United States. It was founded as "Northern Illinois State Normal School" in 1895 by Illinois Governor John P. Altgeld, initially to provide the state with c ...

in DeKalb.

Career

Tobin began his career at the

Federal Reserve Bank A Federal Reserve Bank is a regional bank of the Federal Reserve System, the central banking system of the United States. There are twelve in total, one for each of the twelve Federal Reserve Districts that were created by the Federal Reserve A ...

of Chicago. He spent nine years as a Federal Reserve Bank Examiner, specializing in international finance. In 1976, Tobin founded Taxpayers United of America. He has appeared on radio and TV programs including ABC, CBS, FOX, WGN and NBC news programs. His tax cutting activities have been the subject of articles by newspapers including the ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...

'', the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', ''

Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'', ''

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'', '' U.S. News & World Report'', and the ''

Chicago Sun Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily nonprofit newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has long held the second largest circulation among Chicago newspaper ...

''. From 1979 to 1999, Tobin taught economics at

Elmhurst College Elmhurst University is a private university in Elmhurst, Illinois, United States. It has a tradition of service-oriented learning and an affiliation with the United Church of Christ. The university changed its name from Elmhurst College on July ...

in Elmhurst, Illinois.

Tax relief efforts

Tobin was a proponent of a flat rate income tax of 10 percent. His Chicago-based organization, Taxpayers United of America, actively supported the 1981 federal income tax cut and federal income tax indexing. Tobin also supports the proposed balanced budget Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Illinois gubernatorial race

In 2002, Tobin ran for lieutenant governor representing the

Libertarian Party of Illinois The Libertarian Party of Illinois is the Illinois affiliate of the Libertarian Party. The state chair is Jim Humay. There are thirteen Libertarian officeholders in Illinois. Mission statement Libertarian Party of Illinois mission is: To elect L ...

, with State Representative Cal Skinner running for governor. Tobin's daughter, election reform activist

Christina Tobin Christina Tobin (born June 17, 1981) is an Americans, American Political activist, activist and leader in the election reform and voters' rights movements. She is the founder and chair of The Free & Equal Elections Foundation, and president and c ...

, successfully defended 55,000 signatures for that race. Tobin lost.

References

External links

Taxpayers United of America
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tobin, Jim 1945 births 2021 deaths Economists from Illinois Elmhurst College faculty Illinois Libertarians Northern Illinois University alumni Activists from Chicago