The numerical weak spot of Obama’s ‘Buffett rule’
President Barack Obama’s proposed “Buffett rule” – that no household making over $1m annually should pay a smaller share of its income than middle-class families pay – may turn out to be good politics but it has a numerical weak spot.
The issue is that the top 0.1 per cent in the US are already paying a higher rate of tax on average than the middle quintile of earners, on the White House’s own figures – 26 per cent compared with 16 per cent in 2010. Read more
FT column: A bit of selfishness is all to the social good
The caricature of global capitalism puts sandalled do-gooders and corporate suits at opposite ends of the spectrum. Historically, the corporate social responsibility department was walled off from the boardroom, except when the CSR manager came to ask which cause the chairman deigned to support this year, or the chief executive was coaxed out to a community awards ceremony for some awkward back-slapping with his favourite charity-workers. Read more
| About this blog | Blog guide |
John Gapper is an associate editor and the chief business commentator of the FT.
He has worked for the FT since 1987, covering labour relations, banking and the media. He is co-author, with Nicholas Denton, of 'All That Glitters', an account of the collapse of Barings in 1995.
Andrew Hill is an associate editor and the management editor of the FT. He is a former City editor, financial editor, comment and analysis editor, New York bureau chief, foreign news editor and correspondent in Brussels and Milan.
Latest columns by John and Andrew