PGL and Mark Thoma on Greg Mankiw

PGL and Mark Thoma on Greg Mankiw: "Angry Bear: Fair Taxation: Mark Thoma reads a NYTimes oped by Greg Mankiw and has this comment:

Greg's use of the word 'only' in the sentence 'The poorest fifth of the population, with average annual income of $15,400, pays only 4.5 percent' makes it seem as though he does not consider that amount to be much of a burden to the poor, not like a rich taxpayer who 'forks-over' 31.1 percent of their income which seems to imply much more hardship. But remember, 'Fairness is not an economic concept.'"

(Via Brad DeLong's Blog.)

[AF]