What Supposedly Controversial Policy Do Americans Now Favor?
by SavvyRoo on May 7, 2015 | Views: 309 | Score: 2
Do you think the government should redistribute wealth by heavy taxes on the rich?
Yes | 52 |
---|---|
Don't know | 3 |
No | 45 |
Sources:
gallup.com
Yes | 52 |
---|---|
Don't know | 3 |
No | 45 |
Despite the controversy it engenders in the United States, wealth redistribution via heavy taxes on the rich is actually supported by a slim majority of Americans. This is an issue that the US is very opinionated on: only 3% do not know their stance on this question.
Too black and white to respond to
Actually a wide majority support this when the survey doesn't use the term "wealth redistribution."
In all fairness, the government indirectly redistributes wealth all the time through the progressive income tax and simple transfer payments. Most individuals, myself included, will wholeheartedly agree that the tax structure and the transfer programs are beneficial to some degree. The question then becomes: to what extent should the government redistribute income?
From around 1940-1980 each quintile of wealth shared the economic gains in the US approximately equally. Since 1980 almost all gains have gone to the top quintile and most even within that have gone to the top 1%. Given that, I think the answer to "to what extent" is a heck of a lot more than it has been since we were given Reaganomics and the lie of trickle down economics.