James Kwak — This Inequality Chart Does Not Say What You Think It Says

Jason Furman obfuscates. James Kwak explains.

In summary, the economic factors that produce higher pre-tax income inequality—stagnant middle-class wages, high corporate profits, and booming asset markets—are alive and well, and it doesn’t seem the Obama administration has done much about them. The administration did pass the Affordable Care Act and let the Bush tax cuts expire for the rich, both of which helped mitigate the pre-tax inequality produced by contemporary American capitalism. But even if Barack Obama called inequality the “defining challenge of our time,” he has done little to tackle its fundamental causes. Let’s hope the next president does better.

Baseline Scenario
This Inequality Chart Does Not Say What You Think It Says
James Kwak
ht Mark Thoma at Economist's View

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