The Biggest Tax Cut of All
Between the 1950s and the 2000s marginal taxes on the wealthiest Americans have fallen from 90% to 35%. As late as 1982 the top marginal tax rate was still 50%,...
Articles
Behold and Beware Our New ‘SWAG’ Economy
Today's swaggering rich are stuffing their dollars into investments that do America's 99 percent not one whit of good. Your pop quiz for today: Define “art.” Wait, you don't need...
Job Churning, Job Creation, and the Reregulation of America’s Realonomy
Where do jobs come from? Pro-business groups regularly repeat the mantra that jobs are created by entrepreneurs, strong-charging world-changers who fight endless government interference to build businesses from scratch. But...
COLAs, CPIs, and the $14 Minimum Wage
Inflation has been steadily eroding the value of the U.S. minimum wage over recent decades. But inflation only explains part of the story why the minimum wage has become such...
The Realonomy versus the Wealthy 1%
According to the federal Bureau of Economic Analysis, the economy is growing again. In fact, it's been growing since July 2009. The economy grew in the second half of 2009,...
Employment in Today’s Realonomy
The past few months have brought us headlines like "Sharp Drop in Unemployment Rates" and "New Unemployment Claims at 9-Month Low." It sounds like employment trends today are finally looking up. ...
‘Tis the Season to Shop Tiffany’s
Retail sales are up in the top 1 percent's Plutonomy, but down in the Realonomy where the other 99 percent live. By Salvatore Babones The economy is expanding, the unemployment...
Make the Payroll Tax Cut Permanent
A basic principle of modern tax theory is that rich people should pay more as a percent of their income than poor people. The more income you have, the less...
America’s Greediest: The 2011 Top Ten Edition
One puts on football pageants. Another makes mega millions on a virtual farm. They all remind us how much needs to change, economically and politically, in 2012 and beyond. By...
Making the Payroll Tax Cut Revenue-Neutral
President Obama and Republican leaders are currently debating whether or not to extend the 2011 Social Security tax reductions for one more year. The usual Social Security payroll tax is...
United We Fall: Inequality on the Rise
The incomes of the richest have now grown so large that even the think tank of the developed world's governments is calling for tax hikes. By Salvatore Babones On Monday...
British and Greek Workers Strike for All of Us
Government workers went out on strike in Greece and the United Kingdom last week. The two strikes are unrelated, but they share the same root causes. In both countries the...