 Incentives Matter: Shifting Trends in Tax Policy and Economic Inequalities in the United States, 1917-2015Bradley Smith (bsmith@parisnanterre.fr)
Post-Print from HAL Abstract: The increase in economic inequality in the United States since the late 1970s is well documented, thanks in particular to the research of Thomas Piketty and Emmanuel Saez, based on data supplied by various federal agencies. However, the causes and effects of these inequalities are hotly debated. This paper aims to contribute to these debates in two ways: firstly, by analyzing the empirical links between tax policies and income and wealth inequalities since the beginning of the 20th century; secondly, by highlighting the role of tax incentives in the shifts observed in the 1930s-1940s and again in the 1970s-1980s towards a reduction and then a widening of inequalities. The thesis is that these shifts cannot be attributed solely to the mechanical effects of economic cycles, but are the result of political choices. Keywords: Inequality; Tax policy; U.S. Economy (search for similar items in EconPapers) Published in Séminaire Politiques américaines, Laurence Gervais; Pierre Guerlain; Caroline Rolland Diamond, Apr 2017, Nanterre, Université Paris Nanterre, France There are no downloads for this item, see the EconPapers FAQ for hints about obtaining it. Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:hal-04379993 Access Statistics for this paper More papers in Post-Print from HAL |
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