The Myth of American Inequality
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The Myth of American Inequality is a 2022 book about American economics which asserts that "the federal government egregiously overstates the degree of inequality and poverty" in America.[1] The book says that after transfers and taxes “the average household in the bottom, second, and middle quintiles all have roughly the same incomes—despite dramatic differences in work effort.”[2] It was written by Phil Gramm, Robert Ekelund, and John Early; was named a Wall Street Journal Best Book of 2022;[citation needed] and won the 2024 Hayek Prize.[citation needed]
A Wall Street Journal book review by Charles W. Calomiris says:
- Government statistical reports exclude “noncash” sources of income, which excludes most transfers from social programs. Taxes (paid disproportionately by high earners) are also ignored in official calculations.[3]
and
- Real income of the bottom quintile, the authors write, grew more than 681% from 1967 to 2017. The percentage of people living in poverty fell from 32% in 1947 to 15% in 1967 to only 1.1% in 2017.[3]
George F. Will wrote:
- He demonstrates that the nation's condition is much better than it is portrayed by numbers misused to advance political agendas.[1]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b Boston Globe review
- ^ Edward Conard blog quoting a Wall Street Journal article
- ^ a b TaxProf Blog
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