Falling Inequality

Writes Megan McArdle: Robert Frank points to something that I haven’t seen a lot of commentary on: the financial crisis is going to achieve one long-sought political goal, that of reducing inequality.

1. In general, people who truly care about inequality are not stupid. They understand that crying victory at this juncture would be a P.R. mistake. They understand that saying they’re happy because traders are losing their 500-dollar shirts while everyone else only loses a 15-dollar short would be a total mistake.

2. The rest of those who say they care about inequality, don’t truly care about inequality per se. This is the large majority. Their goal is to “re-distribute.” Talking about inequality dresses their concerns in a more respectable political philosophy, avoids having to face questions about the economic effects of their policies, but their policy goal is to try increase the welfare of the middle-class by taking from the wealthy.

Writes Megan McArdle: Robert Frank points to something that I haven't seen a lot of commentary on: the financial crisis is going to achieve one long-sought political goal, that of reducing inequality. 1. In general, people who truly care about inequality are not stupid. They understand that crying victory at this juncture would be ...