Romney Adviser Defends the 1 Percent

Former Mitt Romney economic adviser Greg Mankiw has a new paper that tries to “defend the 1 percent” and the current state of income equality in the United States.

Writes Mankiw: “In the end, the left’s arguments for increased redistribution are valid in principle but dubious in practice… If the current tax system were regressive, or if the incomes of the top 1 percent were much greater than their economic contributions, or if the rich enjoyed government services in excess of what they pay in taxes, then the case for increasing the top tax rate would indeed be strong. But there is no compelling reason to believe that any of these premises holds true.”