A new study finds that the self-made wealthy are most accepting of the growing wealth gap in America
It has been said that there are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics. Well, there's no lying about the growing income inequality in America. In 1965, America's top 1% controlled about 10% of the nation's after-tax income. That number has now grown to over 15%. The average CEO-to-worker pay ratio has increased from 20-1 in 1965 to a whopping 312-1 in 2017. And middle-class real wage growth has been stagnant for decades.
The researchers asked both groups to reflect on the current state of wealth inequality in America. Specifically, participants were asked to report whether they preferred a higher or lower income tax rate for the top income bracket and if they wanted to see a change made to the effective estate tax rate. Next, participants indicated how much they trusted the government. They were also asked to report their beliefs regarding the importance of luck versus hard work in getting ahead in life.
The researchers then examined various attitudes they thought might underlie the observed differences in opinion regarding wealth redistribution in America. They found that trust in government and beliefs regarding the importance of hard work versus luck in life were virtually identical between the wealthy and non-wealthy. They write,"Compared to the bottom 95%, the top 5% [...] hold similar beliefs about meritocracy, and trust the government to a similar degree.
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