Larsson läser
Janerik Larsson
Janerik Larsson
Gary Burtless på amerikanska tankesmedjan Brookings har i en artikel kommenterat den omfattande debatten om den stora ojämlikheten i USA:
It is now commonplace to say American inequality has reached a peak not seen since the roaring ‘20s. Though often repeated, the claim is flatly untrue under the most comprehensive—and meaningful—definition of family income.
Hans resonemang är för omfattande för att återges här men den intresserade kan söka upp artikeln på länken nederst.
Slutsatsen finns här:
Though most experts on income measurement are aware of the shortcomings of the standard income measures, it is surprising how little of this knowledge has seeped into popular discussion of inequality. Based on our best statistics it is almost certain that market income inequality, after shrinking in the four decades through 1970, began to grow again and has now reached a peak last seen in 1928. However, progressive income taxes and government redistribution are far more important in determining Americans’ incomes today than they were in the 1920s. To disregard the impact of transfers and progressive taxation on the distribution of income and family well-being is to ignore America’s most expensive efforts to lessen the gap between the nation’s rich, middle class, and poor.
Hans poäng är alltså att många som kommenterat Thomas Piketty – och även Piketty själv – bortser från att också USA är en välfärdsstat med omfattande transfereringssystem. Tar man hänsyn till helhetsbilden blir talet om att USA är tillbaka på 1920-talsnivå helt felaktigt.