tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24135583.post2415229704547750461..comments2023-05-30T05:54:48.988-04:00Comments on kingston progressive: TAX PLAN OF THE 99%Mike Madsenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14527557594630435730noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24135583.post-66086700817253746602011-11-30T00:55:08.758-05:002011-11-30T00:55:08.758-05:00Looking closere to the income graph, the income di...Looking closere to the income graph, the income distribution up to about $150k is Gaussian and its average, when adjusted for inflation, is constant in time. This means that all those below about $150k are like gas molecules in thermal equilibrium. This empirical fact goes against the business school propagated lie that the income distribution is Pareto. It turns out that only the tail of the chart in this blog post is Pareto and its inflation-adjusted average is increasing faster and faster in time.<br /><br />Those mathematically inclined can calculate the probability for an income earner who now is in the Gaussian part of the distribution to exit upwards to the Pareto tail (in other words, to become rich)...what this so-inclined reader will find is that this probability is vanishingly small.<br /><br />The above has been happening since Reagan's time. The median and mean have been diverging (with the mean moving up and up and up) for about 30 years now. Welcome to the reality of "trickle-down voodoo economics."Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24135583.post-18507431965593610732011-11-29T22:03:02.438-05:002011-11-29T22:03:02.438-05:00While the number of people with extremely high inc...While the number of people with extremely high incomes may be small, their income, wealth, and share of taxes paid is highly disproportionate to their representation in the population. Although their votes may be insignificant in number, their ability to sway the political process through contributions to campaigns/PACs is quite large.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24135583.post-27705812114724962912011-11-29T17:13:07.135-05:002011-11-29T17:13:07.135-05:00The people with extremely high incomes are not sta...The people with extremely high incomes are not statistically significant. It is the people with incomes between $100K and $300K who constitute the ruling class, and decide on how the country will be run. They tend to be evenly split politically, although they are now leaning more conservative. If taxes were raised substantially, they would have to pay them, because the extremely rich are too few to yield significant amounts of revenue.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com