This week we’ve been asking listeners to suggest big ideas on how to fix the economy. We’ve discussed raising inflation, boosting housing prices, and capping total compensation for CEOs at $5 million. Today we’re talking about another idea: taxing the rich. The Bush Tax Cuts essentially mean that if you make money with money, you pay less in taxes. And if you make money from a job, you pay more. Economists and tax analysts agree that the cuts disproportionately benefit the richest Americans. And some wealthy Americans – including Warren Buffett – are calling for the rich to be taxed at a higher rate. We’re speaking with Charlie Fink about this idea. Fink made millions of dollars at AOL in the ’90s, and he’s one of more than 100 “financially successful” signatories on the Patriotic Millionaires project, which is asking the government to let the Bush era tax cuts expire. Megan McArdle, senior editor at The Atlantic, also joins us. McArdle agrees that taxing the rich would benefit the economy, but warns that it won’t be as simple as some might think.
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