Commentary
After a surge in calls for economic justice, several major U.S. cities have proposed increasing personal income tax rates on high earners. These efforts are part of a broader push to make tax systems more “progressive”—that is, to shift more of the tax burden onto wealthier individuals. While these proposals are often framed as necessary steps toward fairness, they raise a crucial question: How progressive is the U.S. tax system compared to other industrialized nations?
