blindpig
12-08-2016, 10:19 AM
More number crunching from Piketty & co. Useful data and useless conclusions.
Distributional National Accounts:
Methods and Estimates for the United States∗
Thomas Piketty (Paris School of Economics)
Emmanuel Saez (UC Berkeley and NBER)
Gabriel Zucman (UC Berkeley and NBER)
December 2, 2016
Abstract
This paper combines tax, survey, and national accounts data to estimate the distribution
of national income in the United States since 1913. Our distributional national accounts
capture 100% of national income, allowing us to compute growth rates for each quantile of
the income distribution consistent with macroeconomic growth. We estimate the distribution
of both pre-tax and post-tax income, making it possible to provide a comprehensive
view of how government redistribution affects inequality. Average pre-tax national income
per adult has increased 60% since 1980, but we find that it has stagnated for the bottom
50% of the distribution at about $16,000 a year. The pre-tax income of the middle class—
adults between the median and the 90th percentile—has grown 40% since 1980, faster
than what tax and survey data suggest, due in particular to the rise of tax-exempt fringe
benefits. Income has boomed at the top: in 1980, top 1% adults earned on average 27
times more than bottom 50% adults, while they earn 81 times more today. The upsurge
of top incomes was first a labor income phenomenon but has mostly been a capital income
phenomenon since 2000. The government has offset only a small fraction of the increase
in inequality. The reduction of the gender gap in earnings has mitigated the increase in
inequality among adults. The share of women, however, falls steeply as one moves up the
labor income distribution, and is only 11% in the top 0.1% today.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CzBK5giWgAETy3i.jpg:large
http://gabriel-zucman.eu/files/PSZ2016.pdf
Distributional National Accounts:
Methods and Estimates for the United States∗
Thomas Piketty (Paris School of Economics)
Emmanuel Saez (UC Berkeley and NBER)
Gabriel Zucman (UC Berkeley and NBER)
December 2, 2016
Abstract
This paper combines tax, survey, and national accounts data to estimate the distribution
of national income in the United States since 1913. Our distributional national accounts
capture 100% of national income, allowing us to compute growth rates for each quantile of
the income distribution consistent with macroeconomic growth. We estimate the distribution
of both pre-tax and post-tax income, making it possible to provide a comprehensive
view of how government redistribution affects inequality. Average pre-tax national income
per adult has increased 60% since 1980, but we find that it has stagnated for the bottom
50% of the distribution at about $16,000 a year. The pre-tax income of the middle class—
adults between the median and the 90th percentile—has grown 40% since 1980, faster
than what tax and survey data suggest, due in particular to the rise of tax-exempt fringe
benefits. Income has boomed at the top: in 1980, top 1% adults earned on average 27
times more than bottom 50% adults, while they earn 81 times more today. The upsurge
of top incomes was first a labor income phenomenon but has mostly been a capital income
phenomenon since 2000. The government has offset only a small fraction of the increase
in inequality. The reduction of the gender gap in earnings has mitigated the increase in
inequality among adults. The share of women, however, falls steeply as one moves up the
labor income distribution, and is only 11% in the top 0.1% today.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CzBK5giWgAETy3i.jpg:large
http://gabriel-zucman.eu/files/PSZ2016.pdf