As a follow up to my EITC post yesterday, I want to emphasize that one problem with the EITC is actually present in every single child tax benefit we have. In one form or another, all child tax benefits we have are earnings-related, meaning the lower your earnings, the less you get. This design, which… Continue reading Where Deep Child Poverty Comes From
The Oddities of the EITC and Why We Should Think Twice About Its Further Expansion
Congressman Ro Khanna has adopted the idea of expanding the size of the Earned Income Tax Credit recently and attracted some media attention as a result (Lowrey at Atlantic; Ferenstein at Quartz and at Medium). The idea comes from a Neil Irwin piece at the New York Times, which the CBPP and Tax Policy Center… Continue reading The Oddities of the EITC and Why We Should Think Twice About Its Further Expansion
James Baldwin on the Immiseration of Inequality
If you talk about inequality and poverty in the US for long enough, conservatives and even liberals of a certain recent vintage will invariably raise the point that bottom incomes in the US are higher than many incomes elsewhere in the world. Sure, they say, it may not be that those on the bottom of… Continue reading James Baldwin on the Immiseration of Inequality
Take Other Kids to Work Day Highlights the Absurdity of Social Mobility
Richard Reeves of Brookings has a piece in Quartz where he argues that, for social mobility sake, people should not take their own kid to work. Instead, Reeves explains, they should take a kid from a different social class. This week, parents are being urged to take their kids to work for the day. But… Continue reading Take Other Kids to Work Day Highlights the Absurdity of Social Mobility
Tax Day and the Rich
On Tax Day in America, we all recognize two important traditions. First, like all days, we salute the troops for making Tax Day possible. Second, we rehash stuff that has been beaten into the ground so much that you want to die reading about it. This year, the latter tradition is being carried on by… Continue reading Tax Day and the Rich