EconLog

Kling vs. Krugman on Political Economy, 2002-10-29

Here is an extended reply to Paul Krugman's claim that the wealthy are threatening to crush the middle class in the United States.

most economists who examine the income distribution do so because they worry about how to eliminate poverty, not how to eliminate wealth. In making the argument that disparities between the highest earners and median matter in a society with a prosperous middle class, Krugman is breaking new ground.

The idea of focusing on the disparities between high-income and middle-income earners could be a new breakthrough in political economy. Now that Krugman has presented it in the New York Times, it will be interesting to see it discussed by the economics profession at large.

Discussion Question. Are the families in the top 1 percent of the income distribution today the same families that were in the top 1 percent thirty years ago?