Relevant and even prescient commentary on news, politics and the economy.

Plutocracy Rising

Via reader rjs news and Naked Capitalism comes this excerpt on income inequality and programs to address the issue: Bill Moyers: Plutocracy Rising – via Yves Smith – Bill Moyer’s latest show, with Matt Taibbi and and Chrystia Freeland, focuses on how the super rich have established a yawning chasm between themselves and ordinary Americans, both […]

Defining Rich VI: 1936 tax tables

Today we are continuing to look at the historical tax tables to see how we viewed and possibly defined rich. I introduced this idea with my post: Defining Rich III.   I found a source for all sorts of historical data from the Census Bureau. You can down load it or the better way is […]

The Effect of Individual Income Tax Rates on the Economy, Part 7: 1988 – 2010

by Mike Kimel [UPDATE: Graphic title corrected below. h/t Eric Whitaker] This post is the seventh in a series that looks at the relationship between real economic growth and the top individual marginal tax rate. The first looked at the period from 1901 to 1928, the second from 1929 to 1940, the third from 1940 […]

Investment, Consumption, and Progressive Taxation

Hey remember me? Just a quick driveby to start some discussion. Classical, neo-classical, and neo-liberal economics all share a common mistaken psychological premise, one that is simple but deep, and in itself explains why they don’t understand the aims of Progressive Taxation. Label it how you like, the academic discipline that emerged from England in […]

Robert Reich’s After Shock and Corey Robin’s Freedom Arguments

by Linda Beale In earlier posts on ataxingmatter (here and here), I reviewed Robert Reich’s 2010 book, After Shock, and wrote about his suggested cures for the problems made most visible in the 2007 crash and the Great Depression that followed. The gist of the book is summed up in the following quote: “[L]eft to […]

Justifying Progressive Tax Rates

by Mike Kimel Justifying Progressive Tax RatesCross posted at the Presimetrics blog. The Atlantic’s website carries a blog by a conservative/libertarian who writes very well on a wide variety of topics, and who sometimes covers economic issues with great insight. Of course, I’m talking about Andrew Sullivan. (What, you didn’t think… of course not. Don’t […]

Taxing wealthy to pay for health care

by divorced one like Bush As we are talking about taxes and health care this is The Real News Network article regarding raising taxes on the wealthy to pay for health care. (The Real News Network is a global online video news network that listens to and is dependent on its audience. No ads. No […]

Fairness as a concern of economics

by Linda Beale There is an interesting book that I am just beginning, by George A. Akerlof & Robert J. Shiller. It’s called “Animal Spirits: How Human Psychology Drives the Economy, and Why It Matters for Global Capitalism”. The jacket says that the authors “challenge the economic wisdom that got us into this mess, and […]