Quotation of the Day…

(Don Boudreaux)

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… is from page 56 of Michael Strain’s excellent 2020 book, The American Dream Is Not Dead (But Populism Could Kill It):

It is hard to know what to make of changes in wealth inequality over time. To see why, consider this example: Expanded social insurance and safety net programs for lower- and middle-income households reduce the need for those households to accumulate assets. This exacerbates wealth inequality because it increases the gap in asset holdings between high-wealth and low-wealth households.

DBx: This point is excellent, and it implies that a contributor to wealth inequality is government.