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[–] 26 points 1 year ago (1 child)

In the US, 1950-1980 is the era of lowest wealth inequality in the countries history. The top tax rate reached 91% in that time period. It is currently around 37%. Us poors had it worse before then, and have it worse after then. They won a birth lottery. Source: Thomas Piketty's 'Capital in the 21st Century'

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  • [+] -21 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)
  • [–] 11 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    Do you have a source for that? I found this source that is citing data from the congressional budget office. SOURCE (I followed the link and did confirm the numbers match). I made a quick plot so it was easier to see trends. Nothing stands out to me about 1983 - there's a small dip and then a course correction back towards the upwards trajectory, but this data tells us nothin about wealth inequality. We can't use total values because of inflation and such , probably have to use revenue as a %GDP or something but I'm too lazy too keep searching at the moment :) My immediate thought looking at the plot is this: If the total tax rev kept going up, and the top tax rate was cut, then the increased tax burden must have shifted to the poorer classes; I'd have to verify but it seems like a logical conclusion.

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