[Peace-discuss] What the Numbers Mean

[David Green]

One way of interpreting the numbers from the NYT
article passed along by Barbara Dyskant about
millionaires and their taxes is this: They compromise
.0016% of all taxpayers, and receive 11.2% of all
income. That is, before taxes (which have been cut for
the rich) they receive (exactly!) 7,000 times more
than they would if everybody received an equal (mean)
share of the national income. This only considers
income, not wealth! But a significant part of that
income is from capital gains accrued from that wealth,
not actual work (of course). So how would the
"average" person justify or rationalize in his or her
own mind the fact that the "work" of these individuals
is valued as 7,000 times greater than their own (OK,
after taxes only 5,876 times greater)? Class
warfare, indeed!

David Green


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