why a fair economy is not incompatible with growth but essential to it
http://www.nationofchange.org/why-fair-economy-not-incompatible-growth-essential-it-1334583226
One of the most pernicious falsehoods youll hear during the next seven months of political campaigning is theres a necessary tradeoff between fairness and economic growth. By this view, if we raise taxes on the wealthy the economy cant grow as fast.
Wrong. Taxes were far higher on top incomes in the three decades after World War II than theyve been since. And the distribution of income was far more equal. Yet the American economy grew faster in those years than its grown since tax rates on the top were slashed in 1981.
This wasnt a post-war aberration. Bill Clinton raised taxes on the wealthy in the 1990s, and the economy produced faster job growth and higher wages than it did after George W. Bush slashed taxes on the rich in his first term.
If you need more evidence, consider modern Germany, where taxes on the wealthy are much higher than they are here and the distribution of income is far more equal. But Germanys average annual growth has been faster than that in the United States.