Review of Income and Wealth by Alan Reynolds (Diana Furchgott-Roth, NY Post)
Money Myths (Diana Furchgott-Roth, NY Post)
Most measures of inequality look at income before taxes and transfer payments. Transfers include housing vouchers, Medicaid, food stamps and refundable tax credits. But our progressive tax system is designed to redistribute income from high-earners to those without income - and it works. The top half of earners pays about 96 percent of all taxes. So when taxes and transfer payments are included in the calculation, there is a smaller difference between the assets of rich and poor. Funds are taken from the rich in the form of taxes and given to the poor in transfer payments.Inequality is reduced further when it is measured by how much people spend. After all, as Reynolds demonstrates, inequality "is still a round-about and short-term way of measuring differences in living standards," and living standards depend on per-person spending. Contrary to popular belief, people are more equal in terms of consumption today than they were in 1986.
Eh, in discussions of poverty and wealth creation, facts don't matter so much as feelings to most people.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/24/06 10:08 | Books/Culture | Technorati
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