For decades, the U.S. Census Bureau has reported that over 30 million Americans were living in “poverty,” but the bureau’s definition of poverty differs widely from that held by most Americans. Read More.
The top fifth of U.S. households perform a third of all labor, contain the best educated and most productive workers, provide a disproportionate share of the investment needed to create jobs and spur economic growth, and pay 82.5 percent of federal income taxes and two-thirds of federal taxes overall. Raising their taxes even higher would reduce economic growth, harming all Americans. Read More.
Political debate on income in the United States often has been characterized as competition between two schools of economic thought: one that focuses on the long-term increase in general prosperity and one that focuses on the equalization of existing incomes. Read More.
After a financial crisis, a deep recession, and a stalled recovery, it should be no surprise that poverty in America is on the rise. This fall, the Census Bureau reported that a record 46 million Americans — 15% of the population — were living below the poverty line. This is…
Abstract. A fiscal deficit occurs when the benefits and services received by one group exceeds the taxes paid. When such a deficit occurs, other groups must pay, through taxes, for the services and benefits of the group in deficit. A fiscal distribution analysis measures…
Each year, families and individuals pay taxes to the government and receive back a wide variety of services and benefits. When the benefits and services received by one group exceed the taxes paid, a distributional deficit occurs, and other groups must pay for the services and benefits of the group in deficit. Each year, government…
Executive Summary Introduction Each year, families and individuals pay taxes to the government and receive back a wide variety of services and benefits. A fiscal deficit occurs when the benefits and services received by one group exceed the taxes paid. When such a deficit occurs, other groups must pay for the services and benefits…
Political debate on income in the United States often has been characterized as competition between two schools of economic thought: one that focuses on the long-term increase in general prosperity and one that focuses on the equalization of existing incomes. Proponents of the first approach have much to hearten them; the long-term increase in economic…
Bestselling author Charles Murray visits Heritage next week to discuss his latest work, "Coming Apart: The State of...…
In my last post, I challenged a common assumption about equality and justice—that inequality per se is inherently...…
In this week's Heritage in Focus, Heritage director of communications, Rory Cooper, discusses the president's State of...…
The remarks of Alan Krueger, chairman of Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers, asserting that taxing the rich can spur...…
A new poll shows that, despite attempts by liberal protesters and politicians to inject class resentment into the...…
A new poll from Gallup suggests that President Obama’s class warfare argument and the Occupy Wall Street movement are...…
What did America’s founders say about economic inequality? Rather than unload statistics about the reality of inequality...…
Recently, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released its latest statistics on income inequality. Economists,...…
This is part three in a debate with liberal blogger Tim Mitchell on whether income inequality is a problem. In part one...…
This is part one in a debate with liberal blogger Tim Mitchell on whether income inequality is a problem. In this post...…