I think that pretty much most of the data support the thesis that the current level of inequality is far too uneven. The one study cited in this piece that has data showing that inequality is good for growth was published in '08, ya know, right before the house of cards collapsed. As for this: That's not a data-driven judgement; it's moralizing, projecting based on what the authors think might happen in their own idealized version of how economics works. Homo economicus has been debunked in study after study. Only the most ideological conservatives still believe in it.What fascinates me above all about economics is that you can take an idea like the equity-efficiency tradeoff (or top marginal tax rates, etc.) and find studies that are literally all over the map on it. Maybe someday we'll have enough experiential data to come down conclusively about inequality, but right now we're all just tossing around opinions.
High tax rates and large subsidies to the nonworking poor can “dampen incentives to work and invest,”...
How is it moralizing? Looking at that line alone, it says that the presence of A can lead to effect B. There is no value judgement. Suppose a nonworking, poor person receives a monthly check from the government. One of the following three cases must be true: 1) It will have no effect on his desire to work. 2) It will increase his desire to work. ("Hey, this extra money is really helpful. I should go earn some more!") 3) It will decrease his desire to work. ("Gotta go to work to make money and pay the bills. Oh, got free money, never mind.") Without consulting any data, my gut tells me #3 is most likely to be true. Does your gut tell you something different, or do you have some data to help us make a better judgement? Isn't it common sense that most people work mainly to get money?High tax rates and large subsidies to the nonworking poor can “dampen incentives to work and invest,”...
That's not a data-driven judgement; it's moralizing,
Oh sure, but since perfect equality is impossible we find ourselves needing to come to a stop on a gradient. That's where the fun starts.I think that pretty much most of the data support the thesis that the current level of inequality is far too uneven. The one study cited in this piece that has data showing that inequality is good for growth was published in '08, ya know, right before the house of cards collapsed.