Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Tom Toles is a National Treasure; Mark Thoma is Priceless?
by Ken Houghton
We have Thoma, with the full articles here (11 Feb) and here (20 Feb). Excerpts:
I report. You decide.
We have Toles on 26 February.
We have Thoma, with the full articles here (11 Feb) and here (20 Feb). Excerpts:
I would be very pleased to find out that growing inequality is not a problem. However, despite the attempts of Alan Reynolds and a few others to argue otherwise, the preponderance of evidence and of professional opinion clearly indicates that inequality has been rising since 1988, and that the trend toward widening inequality has been present for much longer than that. The question is what, if anything, to do about it. If we can get past the attempts to cloud the issue, perhaps we can proceed to more important discussions. [11 Feb]
There is a role for skeptics, but there is also a time to accept that the preponderance of evidence points in one direction and to begin to think about and implement corrective measures. I believe an important question is how we respond to inequality – will it be through progressive taxation, minimum wage legislation, changes in the structure of health care, investments in education and retraining programs, wage insurance and so on, or will we do nothing? [20 Feb]
I report. You decide.
Labels: Economics, Economists View, Income Inequality, Mark Thoma, Tax Incentives, Tom Toles
