Income inequality has been a big theme in U.S. politics and economics recently. We discussed a mathematical anomaly about the 0.01 percent earlier in the month. A number of folks have offered up defenses of the wealthiest Americans, but they seem -- like this rote piece from former Council of Economic Advisers Chairman Greg Mankiw -- half-hearted and wimpy.
What got me thinking about this recently was an intriguing article by University of Houston professor Craig Pirrong. In "The Rent Seeker, Posing as Visionary,'' Pirrong criticized the long line of government-support programs that Elon Musk’s many companies seem to be involved in.
Read Full Article »