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Spreading the Wealth Around: Reflections Inspired by Joe the Plumber

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  • Mankiw, N. Gregory

Abstract

This essay discusses the policy debate concerning optimal taxation and the distribution of income. It begins with a brief overview of trends in income inequality, the leading hypothesis to explain these trends, and the distribution of the tax burden. It then considers the normative question of how the tax system should be designed. The conventional utilitarian framework is found to be wanting, as it leads to prescriptions that conflict with many individuals’ moral intuitions. The essay then explores an alternative normative framework, dubbed the Just Deserts Theory, according to which an individual’s compensation should reflect his or her social contribution.

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  • Mankiw, N. Gregory, 2010. "Spreading the Wealth Around: Reflections Inspired by Joe the Plumber," Scholarly Articles 34310083, Harvard University Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:hrv:faseco:34310083
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    1. Thomas Piketty & Emmanuel Saez, 2003. "Income Inequality in the United States, 1913–1998," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 118(1), pages 1-41.
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    5. N. Gregory Mankiw & Matthew Weinzierl, 2010. "The Optimal Taxation of Height: A Case Study of Utilitarian Income Redistribution," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 2(1), pages 155-176, February.
    6. N Gregory Mankiw, 2009. "Smart Taxes: An Open Invitation to Join the Pigou Club," Eastern Economic Journal, Palgrave Macmillan;Eastern Economic Association, vol. 35(1), pages 14-23.
    7. Anne Case & Christina Paxson, 2008. "Stature and Status: Height, Ability, and Labor Market Outcomes," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 116(3), pages 499-532, June.
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    Cited by:

    1. Cornelissen, Thomas & Himmler, Oliver & Koenig, Tobias, 2013. "Fairness spillovers—The case of taxation," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 164-180.
    2. Galeotti, Fabio & Kline, Reuben & Orsini, Raimondello, 2017. "When foul play seems fair: Exploring the link between just deserts and honesty," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 142(C), pages 451-467.
    3. Suresh Naidu & Yaw Nyarko & Shing-Yi Wang, 2016. "Monopsony Power in Migrant Labor Markets: Evidence from the United Arab Emirates," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 124(6), pages 1735-1792.
    4. Kyle Glenn, 2021. "Social Labor vs Human Capital: Competing Theories of Skills," Working Papers 2115, New School for Social Research, Department of Economics.
    5. Björn Bartling & Alexander W. Cappelen & Mathias Ekström & Erik Ø. Sørensen & Bertil Tungodden, 2018. "Fairness in winner-take-all competitions," ECON - Working Papers 287, Department of Economics - University of Zurich, revised Aug 2024.
    6. Marika Karanassou & Héctor Sala, 2020. "Distributional Consequences of Technology, Trade Globalisation and Financialisation in the US," The Economic and Social Review, Economic and Social Studies, vol. 51(2), pages 275-303.
    7. Alexis Anagnostopoulos & Eva Carceles‐Poveda & Yair Tauman, 2021. "Value Preserving Welfare Weights For Social Optimization Problems," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 62(4), pages 1627-1653, November.
    8. François Maniquet, 2017. "De chacun selon ses capacités à chacun selon ses besoins, ou (même) plus, s’il le souhaite," Revue économique, Presses de Sciences-Po, vol. 68(1), pages 119-129.
    9. Sala, Hector, 2019. "A fresh look at fiscal redistribution and inequality in the US across electoral cycles," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 195-206.
    10. Marc Fleurbaey & Stéphane Zuber, 2021. "Fair Utilitarianism," American Economic Journal: Microeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 13(2), pages 370-401, May.
    11. Marika Karanassou & Hector Sala, 2012. "Inequality and Employment Sensitivities to the Falling Labour Share," The Economic and Social Review, Economic and Social Studies, vol. 43(3), pages 343-376.
    12. Andrew Lister, 2017. "Markets, desert, and reciprocity," Politics, Philosophy & Economics, , vol. 16(1), pages 47-69, February.
    13. Björn Bartling & Alexander W. Cappelen & Mathias Ekström & Erik Ø. Sørensen & Bertil Tungodden, 2018. "Fairness in Winner-Take-All Markets," CESifo Working Paper Series 7045, CESifo.
    14. Granaglia, Elena, 2019. "Can market inequalities be justified? The intrinsic shortcomings of meritocracy," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 284-290.
    15. Fleurbaey, Marc & Maniquet, François, 2015. "Optimal taxation theory and principles of fairness," LIDAM Discussion Papers CORE 2015005, Université catholique de Louvain, Center for Operations Research and Econometrics (CORE).
    16. Lockwood, Benjamin B. & Weinzierl, Matthew, 2016. "Positive and normative judgments implicit in U.S. tax policy, and the costs of unequal growth and recessions," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 30-47.
    17. Eric Weyl & Charles Nathanson & Ben Lockwood, 2013. "Taxation and the Allocation of Talent," 2013 Meeting Papers 56, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    18. Mihail Arandarenko & Dušan Pavlović, 2023. "Egalitarianism And Redistributive Reform In Serbia After 2000," Economic Annals, Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Belgrade, vol. 68(237), pages 7-36, April – J.
    19. Florian H. Schneider & Fanny Brun & Roberto A. Weber, 2020. "Sorting and Wage Premiums in Immoral Work," CESifo Working Paper Series 8456, CESifo.
    20. Harju Jarkko, 2014. "Policy evaluation methods in tax research – new evidence and interpretations," Nordic Tax Journal, Sciendo, vol. 2014(1), pages 76-92, May.
    21. Benjamin B. Lockwood & Charles G. Nathanson & E. Glen Weyl, 2017. "Taxation and the Allocation of Talent," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 125(5), pages 1635-1682.
    22. Stephan Zheng & Alexander Trott & Sunil Srinivasa & Nikhil Naik & Melvin Gruesbeck & David C. Parkes & Richard Socher, 2020. "The AI Economist: Improving Equality and Productivity with AI-Driven Tax Policies," Papers 2004.13332, arXiv.org.
    23. Robert Lepenies, 2014. "Economists as political philosophers : a critique of normative trade theory," RSCAS Working Papers 2014/11, European University Institute.
    24. Peter Backus & Alejandro Esteller-Moré, 2014. "Is income redistribution a form of insurance, a public good or both?," Working Papers 2014/33, Institut d'Economia de Barcelona (IEB).

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