The Trend Behavior of Alternative Income Inequality Measures in the United States from 1947-1990 and the Structural Break

1994 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 479 ◽  
Author(s):  
Baldev Raj ◽  
Daniel J. Slottje
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Income Inequality ◽  
Structural Break ◽  
The United States ◽  
Inequality Measures

scholarly journals Deconstructing Income and Income Inequality Measures: A Crosswalk from Market Income to Comprehensive Income

2013 ◽  
Vol 103 (3) ◽  
pp. 173-177 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philip Armour ◽  
Richard V Burkhauser ◽  
Jeff Larrimore
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Income Inequality ◽  
Household Income ◽  
The United States ◽  
Capital Gains ◽  
Income Growth ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Inequality Measures ◽  
Market Income ◽  
Return Data

Recent research on levels and trends in the United States in income inequality vary substantially in how they measure income. We show the sensitivity of alternative income measures in capturing income trends using a unified data set. Focusing solely on market income or including realized taxable capital gains based on IRS tax return data in more comprehensive household income measures will dramatically increase inequality growth compared to capital gains measures more in keeping with Haig-Simons principles. Using a measure of yearly accrued capital gains dramatically reduces observed growth in income inequality across the distribution, but also equalizes income growth since 1989.

Trust in Government and the American Public’s Responsiveness to Rising Inequality

2019 ◽  
Vol 73 (4) ◽  
pp. 790-804 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Macdonald
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Public Opinion ◽  
Income Inequality ◽  
State Level ◽  
Political Trust ◽  
The United States ◽  
Trust In Government ◽  
Combine Data ◽  
Election Studies ◽  
The Relationship

The United States has become increasingly unequal. Income inequality has risen dramatically since the 1970s, yet public opinion toward redistribution has remained largely unchanged. This is puzzling, given Americans’ professed concern regarding, and knowledge of, rising inequality. I argue that trust in government can help to reconcile this. I combine data on state-level income inequality with survey data from the Cumulative American National Election Studies (CANES) from 1984 to 2016. I find that trust in government conditions the relationship between inequality and redistribution, with higher inequality prompting demand for government redistribution, but only among politically trustful individuals. This holds among conservatives and non-conservatives and among the affluent and non-affluent. These findings underscore the relevance of political trust in shaping attitudes toward inequality and economic redistribution and contribute to our understanding of why American public opinion has not turned in favor of redistribution during an era of rising income inequality.

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