Obama Admin Chief Economist Smacks Down Romney's "Envy" Argument
Today, Alan Krueger, chairman of President Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers, told ThinkProgress that addressing income inequality is “not about envy at all,” but about ensuring that all segments of the population share in economic growth:
The trends that have taken place in the U.S. over the last three decades are particularly of concern to economists and others. We’ve seen a steady decline, erosion, in the size of the middle class. That’s not good for the economy. That’s not good for all segments of American society. And I think some of our policies have exacerbated that … .
There are certainly legitimate policy issues, and as the President’s economic adviser, it’s certainly something that we’re focused on. I don’t think this is an issue about envy at all. I think we’d like to see all segments of society do well. The President has said ‘when all Americans do well, America does well.’ The accumulating evidence suggests that the erosion of the middle class has been bad for the economy.
According to Krueger, the shift in income inequality over the last three decades is the equivalent of moving $1.1 trillion of income from the 99 percent to the top 1 percent every single year. This has led to a severe shrinking of the middle class:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/01/12/1054121/-Obama-Admin-Chief-Economist-Smacks-Down-Romneys-Envy-Argument?via=siderec
http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2012/01/12/403324/krueger-income-inequality-envy/
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