Taxing the many to give to the few: How government creates inequality

David Cay Johnston, author and investigative journalist who was awarded the 2001 Pulitzer Prize for reporting on U.S. corporate tax policy spoke at the Fox theater in Spokane and at WSU Pullman on February 18th and 19th. Johnston discussed some of the issues he looked at in his most recent book Divided, including the massive rift between the top 1% of the United States and the rest of the society.

The tax policies that are used the U.S. actively promote inequality as large corporations and extremely wealthy citizens have extensive tax breaks while the majority of taxes fall on people from lower income brackets. Johnston discussed how he is currently writing a new tax policy for the U.S. that completely disregards the former.

In his talk, Johnston also discussed the results of his investigative journalism which followed exactly where and how these tax breaks were being exploited. Johnston went into great depth about how the financial giants, such as major corporations, take advantage of certain tax advantages giving them a large step up against budding competition.

David Cay Johnston put a magnifying glass the issues of inequality and inefficiency of the tax breaks that these wealthy parties are entitled to. Johnston speaks out against this tax policy, as he believes it is detrimental to society as a whole.

Watch the lecture here.