Advanced market-based economy creates wealth gap eh??

[theking]

Warren Buffett Says, 'The Poor Are Most Definitely Not Poor Because The Rich Are Rich' — And Thinks The Government Should Help

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. Chairman and CEO Warren Buffett advocated for an increase in access to the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) as a solution to support working-class families, saying the affluent are not responsible for the economic divide.

“No conspiracy lies behind this depressing fact: The poor are most definitely not poor because the rich are rich,” he wrote in a 2015 Wall Street Journal opinion piece.

He acknowledged the contributions of industry innovators like Henry Ford and Steve Jobs, arguing that their achievements have significantly benefited society at large. However, he pointed to an “inevitable consequence” of an advanced market-based economy as the root cause of the expanding wealth gap.

Buffett critiqued the efficacy of improving education and raising the minimum wage as strategies to narrow the gap. He argued that such measures might not achieve the desired outcomes swiftly or effectively enough, and in the case of the minimum wage, could potentially harm employment rates.

Instead, Buffett championed the expansion of the EITC, a federal tax credit that benefits over 27 million taxpayers, particularly families with children, by supplementing their income based on earnings. He said the policy incentivizes work and skill improvement without distorting market forces, thus promoting employment.

Buffett’s stance on the EITC has remained consistent, as evidenced by his comments in a 2019 interview with Yahoo! Finance Editor-in-Chief Andy Serwer, as reported by CNBC. He reiterated the effectiveness of the EITC in aiding those who are disadvantaged by the market system despite being “perfectly decent citizens.”