Americans support progressive taxation. But what we have is a regressive system shaped by lobbying and resentment that allows the very wealthy to avoid paying what most workers view as their fair share. This has happened, according to MIT professor Andrea Louise Campbell, in part because Americans support progressive taxation, but not progressive taxes.
Upper Middle spoke to Campbell about how the hell that happened. The conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
In your book, Taxation and Resentment, you say the tax code is “upside down.” What exactly does that mean?
In the abstract, Americans embrace the notion of progressive taxation. That should translate to support for federal income tax, state income tax, estate tax, and capital gains tax. But these are the taxes that ordinary, non-rich people want to see decreased. Most Americans are more accepting of regressive taxes like the sales tax, which hits the bottom two-thirds of Americans harder. The bottom two-thirds of American earners pay more in sales tax every year than federal income tax, but unless they keep track, they don’t know it. Also, they feel like they can control it buy not making purchases whereas they feel no control over other forms of taxation.
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