Jacob Hacker on “Inequality is Still a Big Problem”
In response to a recent article by David Leonhardt in Upshot, and all the commentary that ensued on the topic of inequality during and after the financial crisis, Jacob Hacker and co-author Paul Pierson write a piece in Bill Moyers & Company that looks at the current problems of inequality and suggest some solutions. In “Yes, Inequality is Still a Big Problem — and One We Can Tackle,” the authors point out that government policy “played a crucial role in (temporarily) halting the growth of inequality,” but that’s no reason to stop now.
”…given how little has been done since 2010, the most important message we need to hear today isn’t that government did a lot during the crisis, but that it needs to do much more right now.”
and
“More vigorous reform of our staggeringly inefficient health care system, for instance, would be good for everyone except those health care providers extracting “rents” from the rest of us, even as it reduced inequality.”