Add the computer and communications revolution to the list of fundamental changes that are widening the political divide between red and blue America. A revealing new Brookings Institution study shows that the thriving metropolitan areas at the vanguard of the transition to the highly digital, post-industrial economy flocked toward Hillary […] Read more »
Strong economy boosts Trump among otherwise skeptical voters
In 2016, the U.S. economy served as a punching bag for then-candidate Donald Trump. Today, it has become a lifeline for an otherwise embattled presidency. … At a recent focus group that Peter Hart, a longtime Democratic pollster, conducted in Wilmington, N.C., for Emory University, even participants who voted for […] Read more »
A middle-class tax cut? Hardly.
President Trump and his Republicans are still trying to sell their tax bill as a “middle class tax cut.” The middle class isn’t buying it—but that won’t stop Congress from passing some version of their plan. … Even before the House and Senate unveiled their bills, about half of registered […] Read more »
Myths of the 1 Percent: What Puts People at the Top
Income inequality inspires fierce debate around the world, and no shortage of proposed solutions. … In the United States, the richest 1 percent have seen their share of national income roughly double since 1980, to 20 percent in 2014 from 11 percent. This trend, combined with slow productivity growth, has […] Read more »
Mentions of Economic Issues as Top Problem Lowest Since 1999
Americans’ concerns about the U.S. economy are, by one measure, the lowest in 18 years. Fifteen percent of Americans mention an economic issue when asked to name the most important problem facing the country. The percentage mentioning the economy has been lower only once in Gallup’s 25-year trend — 13% […] Read more »
Robbing Blue States to Pay Red
Much of the debate over the Republican House and Senate tax plans has centered on how they will shift income toward the affluent. But there is a second kind of redistribution in the plans — from Democratic blue states to Republican red states. Call it the Republican two-step: redistribute upward, […] Read more »