U.S. income inequality continued to grow in 2018, according to new Census Bureau figures. That’s a continuation of a decades-long trend—and a problem several of the Democratic presidential candidates have plans to combat.
The biggest rises in inequality came in Alabama, Arkansas, California, Kansas, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Texas, and Virginia, making increasing inequality a nationwide phenomenon hitting red states, blue states, and swing states across regions of the country. But it’s not something that’s just happening in a vacuum. It’s a product of policy and of choices that giant corporations, unfettered by government, are making to transfer wealth upward. Candidates like Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders have offered plans from a wealth tax to a $15 minimum wage to strengthening unions to combat the continuing trend. Republicans, meanwhile, are looking for ways to make it worse.
“In 2018 the unemployment rate was already low, and the labor market was getting tight, resulting in higher wages. This can explain the increase in the median household income,” University of Florida economist Hector Sandoval told the Associated Press. “However, the increase in the Gini index shows that the distribution became more unequal. That is, top income earners got even larger increases in their income, and one of the reasons for that might well be the tax cut.”
We’d need more data to know for sure, but we can be sure that it’s an outcome Republicans wouldn’t object to—except selectively during campaign season.
This article was originally published at Daily Kos on September 26, 2019. Reprinted with permission.
