Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Thomas Sowell and That Top One Percent

Now that Milton Friedman has passed away, Thomas Sowell might be the smartest man in The United States.

RealClearPolitics - Articles - That 'Top One Percent'

Dr. Sowell rarely names names, but Anna Quindlen irked him....

A recent column by Anna Quindlen in Newsweek (or is that Newsweak?) laments that "the share of the nation's income going to the top 1 percent is at its highest level since 1928."
Who are those top one percent?

For those who would like to join them, the question is: How can you do that?
The second question is easy to answer. Virtually anyone who owns a home in San Francisco, no matter how modest that person's income may be, can join the top one percent instantly just by selling their house.
But that's only good for one year, you may say. What if they don't have another house to sell next year?
Well, they won't be in the top one percent again next year, will they? But that's not unusual.


He goes on to write that most of the categories our politicians like to throw around, "The Rich", "The Poor", "The Middle Class", are not permanent stations in life. Most of us have been considered poor at some point in our lives.
Most of us hope to be rich. We might get there.
So the next time you hear Talking Heads decrying the widening gap between the top 5% and the middle 20% of the bottom 10%, please remember all those people who sold a house, cashed in their stocks, won the lottery, or sold a business. They don't necessarily need to be punished. One day the top 5% might be you.

And I never tire of sending people to this site....enter your yearly income here to see how you stack up against the rest of the world (not the nation). Then come back.

Do you still feel like the top 5% should pay far more of the tax burden?

1 comment:

Troy Camplin said...

You're probably right about Sowell. Brilliant man.