Prof. Dr. H. C. Klaus Vogel turned 70 in December 2000. For his students, colleagues and friends all around the world he has been not only a teacher and academic, but also a researcher and mentor, and this occasion provided the opportunity to honour him with a Festschrift.

This celebratory volume, with contributions in German and in English, is published under the title Staaten und Steuern (States and Taxes) by C.F. Manduuml;ller Verlag in Heidelberg. With the permission of the publisher, the present volume contains the English language contributions as a separate publication.