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Josh Hoxie

Josh Hoxie directs the Project on Opportunity and Taxation at the Institute for Policy Studies. Follow him on Twitter: @JoshHoxie

Articles by this author

	Views Thursday, August 03, 2017 Don't Lie to Poor Kids About Why They're Poor Work hard and you’ll get ahead — that’s the mantra driven into young people across the country. But what happens when children born into poverty run face first into the crushing reality that the society they live in really isn’t that fair at all? "The United States leads the world in overall wealth... Read more
	Views Sunday, March 12, 2017 The White House Budget Proposal Doesn’t Add Up The political theater that passes for serious policy debate is about to run into an unfortunate reality as Donald Trump’s budget plan comes face to face with its arch-nemesis: arithmetic. It’s impossible to cut taxes, increase spending, and balance the budget. That’s not political bluster. That’s... Read more
	Views Wednesday, January 18, 2017 Health Care Repeal Is a Stealth Tax Break for Millionaires Great magicians are masters of diversion. They attract our attention with one hand while using the other to trick us into thinking a supernatural act is taking place. But even the best street performers could learn a lesson from the folks in Congress who are trying to repeal the Affordable Care Act... Read more
	Views Thursday, December 29, 2016 Reducing Inequality in the Trump Era In a lot of ways, 2016 was a big year for reducing inequality. Five states raised their minimum wage through citizen-led ballot initiatives. A job-killing free trade agreement, the TPP, was blocked as a result of massive public demonstrations against it. More recently, the city of Portland, Oregon... Read more
	Views Wednesday, December 07, 2016 Who Voted for Wall Street? During the campaign, Donald Trump said he wanted to fix our rigged economic system. And we can’t do that, he said, by counting on the people who rigged it in the first place. He talked a big game about Wall Street and the big banks. He repeatedly called out Goldman Sachs, the Wall Street behemoth,... Read more
	Views Wednesday, July 27, 2016 Trump’s Trickle-Down Ticket It was easy to get caught up in the circus that was the Republican National Convention. Rousing speeches (plagiarized and original) and raucous floor votes make for great television and funny internet memes. Unfortunately, as we’ve come to expect from events organized by Donald Trump, the... Read more
	Views Thursday, May 05, 2016 Onshore Tax Havens The first thing you notice on the cab ride from the airport to downtown Panama City is the skyscrapers. They’re architecturally beautiful, but jumbled together as if there was no plan or consideration for how they might look next to one another. What you might not notice is that they’re nearly all... Read more
	Views Thursday, April 28, 2016 How to Redistribute Wealth—Without the Guillotine I stumbled into the crowded bookstore on a cold winter day a few years ago, rushing to catch a glimpse of the author speaking in the back. As is my custom, I was late and his speech was well underway. The question and answer began and someone in the crowd asked something I hear often at events like... Read more
	Views Wednesday, December 30, 2015 Affluenza: An Outrage in All Its Forms Which is worse, letting a rich kid off easy for a heinous crime or allowing an ultra wealthy adult to drain public coffers through bribery? These two scenarios may seem completely unrelated, but they both illustrate the corrupting influence of modern inequality—treating those at the top differently... Read more
	Views Monday, October 26, 2015 Who Stands to Benefit the Most from Carl Icahn’s New Super-PAC? Carl Icahn. The nation’s political system just doesn’t have enough influence from the billionaire class. That was apparently the sentiment, absurd as it may sound, behind billionaire Carl Icahn’s recent decision to launch a super PAC with $150 million of his reported $21 billion fortune. What does Icahn hope... Read more