Michael J. Graetz

The postwar United States enjoyed large, widely distributed economic rewards, and most Americans accepted that taxes were a reasonable price to pay for living in a society of shared prosperity. Then in 1978, California enacted Proposition 13, a property tax cap that Ronald Reagan hailed as a "second American Revolution," setting off an antitax, antigovernment wave that has transformed American...

"It is now beyond debate that rising inequality is not only leaving millions of Americans living on a sharp edge but also is threatening our democracy. For activists and scholars alike who are struggling to create a more equitable society, this is an essential read." - David Gergen "A hard and pragmatic look at how America can ameliorate its inequality....