The Blue-State Path to Inequality

Wall Street Journal ^ | 04 June 2014 | Stephen Moore And

[Lorianne]

States that emphasize redistribution above growth have a wider gap between lower and higher incomes. ___ For those in Washington obsessed with reducing income inequality, the standard prescription involves raising taxes on the well-to-do, increasing the minimum wage, and generally expanding government benefits—the policies characterizing liberal, blue-state governance. If only America took a more “progressive” approach, the thinking goes, leaving behind conservative, red-state priorities like keeping taxes low and encouraging business, fairness would sprout across the land.

Among the problems with that view, one is particularly surprising: The income gap between rich and poor tends to be wider in blue states than in red states. Our state-by-state analysis finds that the more liberal states whose policies are supposed to promote fairness have a bigger gap between higher and lower incomes than do states that have more conservative, pro-growth policies.

[Lorianne]

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[Svartalfiar]

Sounds like an interesting read. Too bad there’s that paywall.

[hulagirl]

It basically said too bad government couldn’t focus more on growth than on income equality because the former “tide” raises all boats, just like Kennedy said.

[KarlInOhio]

because the former “tide” raises all boats, just like Kennedy said.

Meanwhile you have Obama knocking holes in the bottom of all boats (for equality's sake) and ordering the tide back like King Canute.