What determines the level of taxation and redistribution in a democratic political environment? Recently, United States’ President Donald Trump proposed the largest tax overhaul in decades. Some argue that this measure is predicted to mostly benefit those in the upper income quintile, therefore increasing inequality. Perhaps, this contrast the period between the 1950s and the 1980s when we saw a clear increase in the welfare state in the U.S.
Generally, economists believe that higher inequality fosters pressures to increase taxes and redistribution. While it is true that i...
From April 7 to mid-July 1994, humanity was witness to one of the worst acts of barbarism in history: the Rwandan Genocide. This atrocious event was carried out, not only by the army, but also by butchers, herdsmen, bakers, businessmen, bus drivers, farmers, etc. To this day, a question remains: what makes 430,000 civilians grab all sorts of items as weapons to kill nearly one million of their fellow countrymen in just one hundred days? To understand this one must look back to the years and months prior to it and wonder how those in power were able to instill such hatred towards the T...
July 1, 2018 is the day when San Francisco’s new US$15 minimum wage comes into effect. Workers and civil rights groups have already applauded this decision, which will benefit directly low skill workers: retailers, landscapers, fast food employers, etc. As many as 86,000 workers, most of whom were women and minorities, would benefit according to estimates. San Francisco is not the only major U.S. city increasing minimum wages. New York City, Seattle and Los Angeles have also approved increases of up to US$15 by 2020. All these measures, an effort to reduce income inequality.
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