David Cay - Foley Institute - Washington State University

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Jan 16, 2015 - PULLMAN, Wash.—David Cay Johnston, author and investigative journalist who was awarded the 2001 Pulitze
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE January 16, 2015 Pulitzer Prize-winning author to speak on American inequality PULLMAN, Wash.—David Cay Johnston, author and investigative journalist who was awarded the 2001 Pulitzer Prize for reporting on U.S. corporate tax policy, will give two free, public presentations at 7p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 18 at the Martin Woldson Theater at The Fox in Spokane and at 4 p.m. the following afternoon at WSU Pullman. In his talk “Taxing the many to give to the few: How government creates inequality”, Johnston will focus on a number of issues that have been highlighted in his newest book, Divided: The Perils of our Growing Inequality, which examines the economic effects of growing income disparity in the United States. Since 2010, the U.S. economy has been recovering from the worst recession since the Great Depression. Real GDP and production began increasing, unemployment has declined and the stock market is back to record levels. Despite this, however, many families have experienced a decrease rather than an increase in incomes. “Since the end of the Great Recession, 95 percent of income gains have gone to the top 1 percent of households, and the bottom 90 percent’s incomes have fallen by 15 percent,” says Johnston. Johnston’s extensive investigative reporting suggests that the tax system has been a primary driver of growing U.S. inequality, due to the fact that the tax system is not designed to fairly and effective apportion the tax burden. Simple wage-earnings are efficiently taxed, while investments and business accounts are more difficult to examine and collect upon, allowing the wealthiest Americans to shelter trillions of dollars of income. More money is not the only advantage that affluent Americans enjoy. Johnson also identifies health, education, environmental and incarceration policies as other major drivers of income inequality. Change will only come, Johnston contends, only when the sleeping middle class recognizes and understands that growing disparity between the very rich and the rest of the populace and how government policies, not abstract economic forces such as globalization, are its primary cause. The mission of Johnston’s book is to inform and educate Americans about this issue. Johnston calls for the middle class to first and foremost, vote. Top earners vote at a much higher rate than lower income individuals. Politics are the only way to control concentrated wealth in a democracy.

Johnston also calls for greater political literacy. If middle class votes for the policies and policymakers that will most benefit the majority of Americans, we can begin to amend the effects of decades of inequality. The Thomas S. Foley Institute for Public Policy and Public Service provides public affairs programming and education, supports student engagement in public service, and fosters scholarly research on public policy and political institution in a nonpartisan, cross-disciplinary setting. The institute was established at Washington State University to honor Tom Foley's more than 30 years of public service to both state and nation and as the 49th Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. The Foley Institute supports programs in the four substantive policy areas most relevant to Tom Foley's long-term interests: agriculture policy, environment and natural resources, media and ethics, and government studies, and public service. The Howard D. and B. Phyllis Hoops Institute of Taxation Research and Policy provides lectures, seminars, and speaking engagements on the topics of taxation research and philosophy. It bridges disciplines and engages industry leaders, academics and students in examining economic, political and behavioral impacts of tax policy. Through generous funding, Howard D. and B. Phyllis Hoops established the Hoops Tax Institute at Washington State University to promote the importance and understanding of tax theory and practices and to explore real-world tax-related case studies and current events. ### Contacts: Richard Elgar, assistant director, Thomas S. Foley Institute for Public Policy and Public Service at WSU, [email protected], 509-335-3477. Jeff Gramlich, professor, Howard D. and B. Phyllis Hoops endowed chair, and director of the Hoops Tax Institute at WSU, [email protected], 509-335-5358.

Related media: “Bloodiest thing the world has seen”: David Cay Johnston on inequality’s looming disaster http://www.salon.com/2014/05/22/bloodiest_thing_the_world_has_seen_david_cay_johnston _on_inequalitys_looming_disaster/ David Cay Johnston: The Perils of our Growing Inequality. Interview by President of the Institute for New Economic Thinking. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ok7ZJ8mS19Y