In addition to all the other problems the Wall Street Journal editorial page cites with the Obama administration's proposed $250-a-senior "granny grant," it's a reverse Robin-Hood. According to the Federal Reserve's 2007 Survey of Consumer Finances, families headed by a 65 to 75 year-old had the highest average net worth of all American families, with an average net worth of $1.01 million. For comparison, families headed by someone less than 35 had an average net worth of $106,000, and families headed by someone between the ages of 35 and 44 had an average net worth of $327,000. Taking money away from the younger Americans by taxing them and giving it away in $250 checks to older Americans is taking from the poorer and giving to the richer, a classic reversal of the Robin Hood plan of taking from the rich and giving to the poor. Reasonable people may differ over the extent to which government should redistribute wealth from the rich to the poor, or over whether government should do that at all. But often what happens is the opposite, or government redistributing wealth from everyone to some politically powerful interest group such as seniors, who tend to be more reliable voters than other demographic groups.
The Granny Grant and Reverse Robin-Hood
https://www.futureofcapitalism.com/2009/10/the-granny-grant-and-reverse-robin-hood
by Editor | Related Topics: Press, Reverse Robin-Hood, Stimulus, Taxes receive the latest by email: subscribe to the free futureofcapitalism.com mailing list