The modern "Piketty-Marx" approach to income inequality is like pursuing height inequality by cutting six inches off of tall people

Even Alan Blinder (!) believes that raising up the bottom is preferable to bringing down the top.  Building is always better than tearing down don't you think?  Don't necessarily agree with his policy prescriptions - I would focus on lowering the cost of positional goods and legally advantaged professions so that those with fewer resources and credentials can participate more fully.  But at least Dr. Blinder isn't a Puritan Wrecker.  HT Scott Sumner's the money illusion once again.  He's on a roll.

Alan Blinder is a very bright and well-intentioned liberal:

Concentrating on, say, the growing gap between the upper 1% and the lower 99% leads Mr. Piketty to advocate such redistributive policies as higher top income-tax rates, stiffer inheritance taxes and a progressive tax on wealth.

But if you dote instead on plight of the lower 15%-20%, or even on the lack of progress of the lower 50%, you are led to think about policies like giving poor children preschool education, bolstering Medicaid, raising the minimum wage, expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit, and defending anti-poverty programs like food stamps.

These two policy agendas are not inconsistent, but they are certainly very different. The first tries to level from the top; the second tries to level from the bottom. Between the two, I’d like to think that most Americans join me in favoring the second. But I’m worried. Does Pikettymania prove me wrong?

Yes it does Mr. Blinder.  I may not agree with all of Blinder’s policy recommendations, but he’s thinking like a good utilitarian.  In a rational world we’d do “free policies” that help the middle class, like simplifying taxes, abolishing the FDA, removing occupational licensing laws, monetary stimulus to create jobs, etc.  But when it came to policies that actually cost money, we’d focus on the poor in America, or even better on the much poorer people in developing countries.  But not the middle class.