In my last blog I made the assertion, quoting the center-right columnist and editor Jonah Goldberg, that the rich were already paying their fair share in taxes. Goldberg claimed that the top 10% of income tax filers paid three-quarters of federal income taxes.
An alert reader took issue with my overall assertion and provided data to back up his counter argument. I share it without further comment below:
The historical figures reveal a dramatic 70-year trend of increasing inequality:
Top 1% wealth concentration has increased steadily from 20.5% (1954) to 32% (2024)—a 56% relative increase. The acceleration was sharpest during the 1980s-1990s, coinciding with tax cuts and financial deregulation.
Bottom 20% wealth share has collapsed from 3.0% (1954) to just 0.5% (2024)—an 83% decline. Their income share also fell from 8.0% to 5.0%, while their tax burden remained roughly proportional, meaning they pay about the same rate as the middle class despite far lower resources.
The inflection point appears around 1974-1984, when inequality began accelerating after decades of relative stability. This corresponds to the end of Bretton Woods, stagflation, and the policy shift toward deregulation and supply-side economics.
The middle quintiles (2nd, 3rd, 4th) have also seen steady erosion in their wealth and income shares, with the gains concentrated not just in the top 1% but particularly in the top 0.1%, whose wealth share roughly tripled from ~5.5% to 14% over this period.
Yellow Stripes & Dead Armadillos 