Robert J. Samuelson

The United States is a middle-class nation, and most Americans want it to stay that way. No one wants a society starkly split into “haves” and “have-nots.” The obsession with “rising inequality” plays to these fears without addressing them. It is mostly a moral self-indulgence: a way of demonstrating superior “caring.” It implies that the rich are somehow responsible for the plight of the poor and that extra redistribution might easily reverse the curse of rising inequality. This is an illusion.

Reducing inequality matters only if we reduce poverty. Let’s go back to Gates for proof. Suppose he takes a big hit in the stock market, his wealth drops more than mine. Indeed, suppose a protracted economic and market decline reduces the wealth of the very rich (who own more stock than anyone else) more than that of the middle-class or poor. There would be less economic inequality. Would anyone be better off? Would anyone feel better? Not likely.”

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