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Political action has affected postwar income distribution in the United States mainly through policy-induced variations in macroeconomic activity and government transfer benefits in proportion to total income. We present a small dynamic model of the connections among the partisan balance of power, macroeconomic fluctuations, transfer spending trends, and income distribution outcomes. The model is based on the premise that the parties have different distributional goals, and it is designed to identify how shifts in party control of the presidency and the strength of the parties in Congress have affected the distribution of after-tax, after-transfer income by influencing cyclical economic performance and the flow of resources to transfer programs. We therefore extend the "partisan theory" of macroeconomic policy to the domain of income distribution outcomes.

Intro -- INCOME AND WEALTH DISTRIBUTIONPERSPECTIVES AND CONSIDERATIONS -- INCOME AND WEALTH DISTRIBUTIONPERSPECTIVES AND CONSIDERATIONS -- CONTENTS -- PREFACE -- Chapter 1 THE US INCOME DISTRIBUTION AND MOBILITY: TRENDS AND INTERNATIONAL COMPARISONS -- SUMMARY -- INTRODUCTION -- MEASURES OF INCOME -- MEASURES OF THE DISTRIBUTION OF INCOME -- EXPLAINING RECENT TRENDS IN THE DISTRIBUTION OF US HOUSEHOLD INCOME -- INTERNATIONAL COMPARISONSOF INCOME DISTRIBUTIONS -- EXPLAINING CROSS-COUNTRY DIFFERENCES IN THEDISTRIBUTION OF INCOME -- INCOME MOBILITY IN THE UNITED STATES -- Intergenerational Mobility -- Cross-Country Comparisons of Intergenerational Mobility -- Intragenerational Mobility -- CONCLUDING REMARKS -- End Notes -- Chapter 2 THE DISTRIBUTION OF HOUSEHOLD INCOME AND THE MIDDLE CLASS -- SUMMARY -- INTRODUCTION -- THE DISTRIBUTION OF HOUSEHOLD INCOME -- THE MIDDLE CLASS -- Absolute Income -- Relative Income -- End Notes -- Chapter 3 FINANCE AND THE ECONOMY: OCCUPY WALL STREET IN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE -- SUMMARY -- WHY OCCUPY WALL STREET? -- VIEWS OF FINANCE IN US HISTORY -- RECENT ECONOMIC RESEARCH -- Size of the Financial Industry -- Compensation -- Income Inequality -- Less Stable Financial System -- Costs of Financial Crises -- CONCLUSION -- End Notes -- Chapter 4 THE TREND IN FAMILY INCOME FROM 1979 TO 2010 -- SUMMARY -- INTRODUCTION -- FAMILY INCOME: WHY IT MATTERS AND POLICIESTO IMPROVE IT -- DEFINITIONS USED IN THE REPORT -- THE TREND IN FAMILY INCOME -- Longer-Term Trends -- The Distribution of Family Income -- Annual Hours Worked -- The Level of Family Income -- All Families -- Married Couples -- Family Earnings Per Hour and Total Hours Worked -- Earnings Per Hour Worked All Families -- Married Couples -- Hours Worked -- All Families -- Married Couples -- The Separate Effects of Hourly Earnings and Hours Workedon Total Family Earnings

Frontmatter -- Contents -- List of Tables -- Chapter I. The Utility of Income Statistics -- Chapter II: Ideal Income Statistics -- Chapter III: Sources of Incomes -- Chapter IV: The Sources of American Income Statistics -- Chapter V: Previous Treatment of American Income Statistics -- Chapter VI: Statistics of the Distribution of Wages -- Chapter VII: Incomes From Property -- Chapter VIII: Summary and Conclusion -- Chapter IX: A Suggestion -- Bibliography

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