Answer: Mosquitoes The answer to this question had eluded me especially in light of the increasing income disparity between the wealthy and the rest of us. I don’t think there is much controversy that ever since the Regan years (see previous post) more income shares have been going to the wealthy. This has created a … More If you make less than $250k why are you a Republican?
In his recent book, Aftershock, Robert Reich builds a strong case for the disparity between the top income earners and the rest of us as the basis for our current economic turmoil. He argues that there will be chronic, structural economic problems if those who produce goods are not able to purchase them. Reich defines … More Two economies: The market basket and The Market
I’ve long believed there was a fundamental misunderstanding of how our tax system works that has lead to groundless support for extending the Bush tax cuts to incomes over $250,000. I partially addressed the topic in a previous posting, The arithmetic of taxing the “rich”. What I did not address was how the message was being … More Bipartisan support for tax cuts for everyone.
I hear some people pining for “the good old days” and how good things used to be. Many times it seems like those same voices are also quick to fault the “socialist” programs of the Obama administration as the reason we are not enjoying the same prosperity as we did “back in the day”. If … More Top fractiles income share and the “good old days”
A premise of accountability is that people should believe what they are saying is true. Speaking in a recent Today Show interview, Representative Michele Bachmann argued that extending the Bush tax cuts for incomes over $250,000 was good for the working class. As her example she said that a plumber or a carpet layer with … More Accountability
Confronting Mediocrity 