About this episode
Ray Madoff discusses how the U.S. tax code has contributed to wealth concentration among the rich and the implications of philanthropy on economic inequality.
It’s widely recognized that vast amounts of wealth are now concentrated in the hands of the very few. But less well understood, scholar Ray Madoff argues, is how the U.S. tax code played a key role in that process. She delineates how progressive taxation and the estate tax — designed to tax the inherited wealth of the rich — have been eviscerated. And she also argues that philanthropy, perversely, has increased the wealth of the 1%. Ray D. Madoff, The Second Estate: How the Tax Code Made an American Aristocracy University of Chicago Press, 2025 Photo by Alexander Grey on Unsplash The post (Not) Taxing the Rich appeared first on KPFA.
People in this episode
Guest: Ray Madoff
Topics covered
- wealth concentration
- U.S. tax code
- progressive taxation
- estate tax
- philanthropy
- economic inequality
Keywords
- tax code
- wealth
- progressive taxation
- estate tax
- philanthropy
- economic inequality
- Ray Madoff
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: University of Chicago Press
Books & works: The Second Estate: How the Tax Code Made an American Aristocracy
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