Income Inequality: Difference between revisions
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The income tax cuts for the rich of the past 40 years were originally justified by economic arguments: Laffer’s rhetoric was seized upon by politicians. But to economists, his ideas were both familiar and trivial. Modern economics provides neither theory nor evidence proving the merit of these tax cuts. Both are ambiguous. Although politicians can ignore this truth for a while, it suggests that widespread opposition to higher taxes on the rich is ultimately based on reasons beyond economics. | The income tax cuts for the rich of the past 40 years were originally justified by economic arguments: Laffer’s rhetoric was seized upon by politicians. But to economists, his ideas were both familiar and trivial. Modern economics provides neither theory nor evidence proving the merit of these tax cuts. Both are ambiguous. Although politicians can ignore this truth for a while, it suggests that widespread opposition to higher taxes on the rich is ultimately based on reasons beyond economics. | ||
=====CBO Confirms With Trump-GOP 'Big, Ugly Law,' Working Families Lose 'And Billionaires Win'===== | =====CBO Confirms With Trump-GOP 'Big, Ugly Law,' Working Families Lose 'And Billionaires Win'===== | ||
[https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/03/22/unfair-state-tax-codes-also-exacerbate- by Jessica Corbett 11/8/25 Common Dreams] | [https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/03/22/unfair-state-tax-codes-also-exacerbate- by Jessica Corbett 11/8/25 Common Dreams] | ||
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[https://www.pgpf.org/article/5-facts-about-rising-income-inequality-in-the-united-states/ by PETER G.PETERSON FOUNDATION] | [https://www.pgpf.org/article/5-facts-about-rising-income-inequality-in-the-united-states/ by PETER G.PETERSON FOUNDATION] | ||
Over the past four decades, average household income grew by 95 percent after adjusting for inflation; however, that growth largely stems from earners in the top part of the income-distribution. Average income in the highest quintile was 165 percent higher in 2021 than it was in 1981 — over four times the growth of average income in the lowest quintile (38 percent over the period). Meanwhile, the median household income grew by just 33 percent. Those statistics do not account for the effect of taxes or transfer programs such as Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program, and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program; such programs provide cash payments or other forms of assistance to people with relatively low income or few assets. | Over the past four decades, average household income grew by 95 percent after adjusting for inflation; however, that growth largely stems from earners in the top part of the income-distribution. Average income in the highest quintile was 165 percent higher in 2021 than it was in 1981 — over four times the growth of average income in the lowest quintile (38 percent over the period). Meanwhile, the median household income grew by just 33 percent. Those statistics do not account for the effect of taxes or transfer programs such as Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program, and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program; such programs provide cash payments or other forms of assistance to people with relatively low income or few assets. | ||
==Resources== | |||
[https://inequality.org/facts/income-inequality/ Income Inequality in the US.org] | |||
