Workers taxes up, corporate taxes down
Corporate taxes used to constitute a significant portion of federal revenues, almost a third in 1950. Payroll taxes from workers were considerably less--around 10% in 1950. Andrew Leonard, Who Really Pays Taxes? Salon.com (Aug. 28, 2012).
The times have changed. Corporate taxes have declined steeply in the 21st century as a percent of GDP, while payroll taxes paid by workers have become a significant part of tax revenues--more than a third in 2007.
That is one cause of the inordinate inequality of income and wealth that this country now endures--an inequality that has dire consequences for the economy and for the well-being or the vast majority of ordinary Americans.
