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ECONOMIC REPORT OF THE PRESIDENT

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Gini Index<br />

0.66<br />

0.64<br />

Figure 3-4<br />

Earnings Inequality, 2000–2015<br />

No Policy<br />

Response<br />

Jul-2015<br />

0.62<br />

0.60<br />

No Fiscal Policy<br />

Response<br />

0.58<br />

0.56<br />

Actual<br />

0.54<br />

0.52<br />

2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014<br />

Note: Twelve-month moving average of not seasonally adjusted data. Gini index for the<br />

population ages 18-64, including those not currently employed.<br />

Source: BLS; Blinder and Zandi (2015); CEA calculations.<br />

time. Investment income is concentrated among high-income families and<br />

generally falls sharply during recessions, which reduces the income share<br />

of these families when using broader measures of income or measures of<br />

inequality that are particularly sensitive to high incomes. Similarly, safetynet<br />

policies provide partial protection against income losses that result from<br />

unemployment even though earnings fall to zero, thus reducing the recessionary<br />

increase in inequality in broader measures of income. The different<br />

behavior of these inequality measures provides important insights into<br />

how different parts of the economy vary with the business cycle. Earnings<br />

inequality reflects individuals’ experiences in the labor market, while<br />

inequality in more comprehensive measures of income tracks the financial<br />

resources families have available. (Another important issue in evaluating<br />

inequality is distinguishing short-term cyclical developments from longerterm<br />

trends. See Box 3-2 at the end of this section for a discussion of this<br />

issue as it relates to the evolution of the income share of the top 1 percent of<br />

households since 2000.)<br />

To quantify the impact of the policy response to the Great Recession<br />

on inequality, Figure 3-4 shows the actual Gini index for earnings since 2000<br />

and the Gini index for two simulations reflecting what might have occurred<br />

Progress Reducing Inequality | 161

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