Ten Observations about Income Inequality

Abstract

What is income (or other material) inequality, how should it be measured, and why should tax policymakers care about it? The answers to these questions are contested and ambiguous. With the aim of illuminating the underlying issues, this paper offers ten main observations that might help to inform tax policy debate. It finds that more important than any particular conclusion is the need for continuing methodological pluralism, agnosticism, and humility in how one thinks about it.