I don't know how anybody is making it with these numbers
They’re not getting by - they’re drowning in debt… https://t.co/kIFUnO9rof
— E.J. Antoni, Ph.D. (@RealEJAntoni) June 21, 2024
They’re not getting by - they’re drowning in debt… https://t.co/kIFUnO9rof
— E.J. Antoni, Ph.D. (@RealEJAntoni) June 21, 2024
The census fails to account for taxes and most welfare payments, painting a distorted picture.
Never in American history has the debate over income inequality so dominated the public square, with Democratic presidential candidates and congressional leaders calling for massive tax increases and federal expenditures to redistribute the nation’s income. Unfortunately, official measures of income inequality, the numbers being debated, are profoundly distorted by what the Census Bureau chooses to count as household income.
In all, leaving out taxes and most transfers overstates inequality by more than 300%, as measured by the ratio of the top quintile’s income to the bottom quintile’s.
More From The Wall Street Journal (subscription required):