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ECONOMIC REPORT OF THE PRESIDENT

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20<br />

15<br />

10<br />

5<br />

Figure 3-14<br />

Percent Reduction in Income Inequality Due to Changes in Tax Policy and<br />

ACA Coverage Provisions, 2017<br />

Percent Reduction<br />

25<br />

0<br />

Gini Index P90/P20 P99/P20 A(Top 1)/<br />

A(Mid 20)<br />

A(Top 1)/<br />

A(Bot 20)<br />

Top 1% Share<br />

Note: P90/P20 is the ratio of the after-tax income at the 90th percentile of the distribution to the aftertax<br />

income at the 20th percentile. P99/P20 is defined similarly. A(Top 1)/A(Mid 20) is the ratio of the<br />

average after-tax income in the top 1 percent to the average after-tax income in the middle 20 percent.<br />

A(Top 1)/A(Bot 20) is defined similarly. Incomes are adjusted for family size in computing the Gini<br />

Index and percentile ratios and for purposes of ranking families in computing ratios of average incomes<br />

and income shares.<br />

Source: U.S. Treasury, Office of Tax Analysis.<br />

measures that are most sensitive to these points in the distribution, such as<br />

the ratio of average incomes for families in the top 1 percent to those in the<br />

bottom quintile, show the largest effects.<br />

Obama Administration Achievements Relative to Other Federal<br />

Action in Recent Decades<br />

The decrease in income inequality resulting from changes in tax policy<br />

since 2009 and the coverage provisions of the ACA is large not only in absolute<br />

terms but also relative to previous Federal action to reduce inequality.<br />

There are important limitations and uncertainties in any effort to<br />

assign policy changes to particular Presidential administrations. Policies<br />

enacted in one administration may phase in through the next administration.<br />

Broader economic and demographic changes in one administration<br />

will interact with the entire history of policy changes leading up to<br />

that point. Polices may be repeatedly extended on a temporary basis and<br />

automatic adjustments may be introduced in ways that make it difficult<br />

to consistently interpret action and inaction (for instance, the introduction<br />

of automatic inflation adjustments for income tax brackets and other<br />

parameters of the tax code in the 1980s). Notwithstanding these difficulties,<br />

this section compares the anti-inequality accomplishments of the Obama<br />

Progress Reducing Inequality | 183

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