TRIM BACK INCOME INEQUALITY

“[Joseph Stiglitz’s proposed] rules would be good things for the economy as a whole, making it more efficient and competitive. More important, the second half of Stiglitz’s agenda — redistribution via taxes and transfers — remains a tremendously powerful tool for dealing with inequality. After all, while pretax inequality is a problem in its own right, what’s most destructive is soaring posttax inequality. And it’s posttax inequality that most distinguishes the US from other developed countries. As Stiglitz writes:

“ ‘Some other countries have as much, or almost as much, before-tax and transfer inequality; but those countries that have allowed market forces to play out in this way then trim back the inequality through taxes and transfer and the provision of public services.’”

Surowiecki, “Why the Rich Are So Much Richer,” in the New York Review, September 24, 2015, pp: 32-36.