Posted 1/13/2024, 12:02:00 AM
Congressional Policies, Not Markets, Drive Economic Inequality Through Regressive Taxes and Other Means, Analysis Finds
- Congress, not market forces, is responsible for policies that drive inequality, like higher taxes on wages than capital gains
- Policies favor wealth over work, increasing economic disparity and magnifying past racial injustice
- Many government policies redistribute wealth upward before progressive policies try to mitigate those effects
- The 2017 Republican tax legislation made federal taxes more regressive
- Policy, not markets, makes the U.S. an outlier among wealthy nations for high inequality and poverty rates