A New York Times article Jan. 20 about the much-maligned top 1 percent says that they do earn a lot, but they also give a lot:
“The top 1 percent of earners in a given year receives just under a fifth of the country’s pretax income, about double their share 30 years ago. They pay just over a fourth of all federal taxes, according to the Tax Policy Center. In 2007, they accounted for about 30 percent of philanthropic giving, according to Federal Reserve data. They received 22 percent of their income from capital gains, compared with 2 percent for everybody else.”
It was hard to find where the Federal Reserve publishes such information, but it turns out that the Fed includes charitable giving in its extensive research Read more
