Cass R. Sunstein, Columnist

A Boost for the Poor Makes Everyone Richer

The earned-income tax credit encourages more people to join the work force.

May 8, 2017 at 12:30 PM UTC

Cass R. Sunstein is a former Bloomberg Opinion columnist. He is the author of “The Cost-Benefit Revolution” and a co-author of “Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth and Happiness.”

Looking to work.
Photographer: Joe Raedle

Provide news feedback or report an error

Site feedback:

Take our Survey

This article is for subscribers only.

If a nation wants to increase productivity, it is natural to focus on promoting innovation, improving education and decreasing regulation. But a positive step, potentially supported by Republicans and Democrats alike, could come from an unlikely place: increasing both the availability and the size of the earned-income tax credit.

True, the EITC is not normally thought to promote productivity at all. Most people see it as an antipoverty measure, designed to help the working poor. Its goal is to redistribute wealth, not to increase it.