Pay gap widens between public, private workers

Our op-ed on the only harmful form of income inequality is featured in today’s edition of the San Diego Union-Tribune:

The call for government to enact “share the wealth” policies is growing louder, thanks to a recent Brookings Institution study on rising income inequality.

But this demand rests on a fallacy: that the amount of wealth is fixed, by which one profits at another’s expense.

The exact opposite is true, of course. Income generated in the marketplace — based on voluntary purchases and mutually-agreeable salary negotiations — is a positive-sum game, where both sides gain.

Indeed, the benefits of this wealth-creation process — an abundance of continually improving consumer goods alongside an increasing standard of living — have become so commonplace that they are often taken for granted.

There is one group, however, that actually does enrich itself at the expense of others: the government.

Be sure to read the rest here.