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Student Publications Homepage
ARTICLE CONTENTS
[Pages 993-1128]
TOP OF ARTICLE
Introduction
I. The Distribution of Before-Tax Income
A. The Rich Are Getting Richer
1. The “Merely Rich” Are Running Away from the Pack
2. The “Super-Rich” Are Soaring Above the Merely Rich
3. The Super-Rich Are Taking a Substantially Bigger Slice of the Pie
B. Income Mobility and the Fallacy of the Horatio Alger Myth
II. The Distribution of After-Tax Income and Wealth
A. After-Tax Dollar Incomes
B. Shares of Total After-Tax Income
C. Shares of Total Wealth
III. Effective Tax Rates
A. Individual Taxes
1. The Individual Income Tax Rate Schedule
2. Payroll Taxes
B. Effective Tax Rates
1. Income Tax
2. Other Federal Taxes
a. Payroll Taxes
b. Corporate Taxes
c. Excise Taxes
3. Total Effective Tax Rate
4. Isolating the Effect of Statutory Rules
IV. Tax Policy in the New Millennium
A. The Legacy of the Roaring Nineties
B. The Republican Tax Relief Agenda
1. The Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001
2. Job Creation and Worker Assistance Act of 2002
3. The Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003
C. Quantifying Tax Relief for the Rich
D. The End Game
V. The Economic Arguments
A. The Supply Side Justification
B. The Fallacy of the Justification
1. The Equity/Efficiency Trade-Off Is a False Choice
2. Labor and Savings Are Not Highly Responsive to Tax Rates
a. Labor Supply
b. Savings
c. Targeted Capital Income Tax Cuts
d. Summary
3. Inequality Impedes Economic Growth
4. The Rising Tide Fallacy
C. The Budget Deficit Problem
VI. The Philosophical Arguments
A. The Myth of Ownership
B. The Danger of Concentration of Political Power in the Wealthy
VII. The Paradox of Voter Acquiescence
VIII. Quelling the Matthew Effect
Conclusion
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