- Vagitarian Mar 27, 2018 at 07:25: PM
Vagitarian
Well-Known Member
President Trump paints himself as the patron saint of farm hands and factory workers. Yet the people faring best under the Trump presidency are those more likely to be his peers and guests at the swanky Mar-a-Lago club than the “forgotten men and women” who helped elect Trump.
The average Wall Street bonus hit an 11-year high of $184,220 last year, according to new data from the New York State comptroller. That’s largely because profits at Wall Street trading firms rose 42% in 2017, to the highest level since 2010.
Public U.S. companies are on track to buy back a record $800 billion worth of their own shares this year, which would be a new record, according to J.P. Morgan Chase. That’s largely because of the new cash freed by the sharp drop in business tax rates Trump signed last December. Share buybacks generally boost the value of stocks—since they reduce the supply of shares—which is a boon for shareholders.
The tax cuts themselves are a windfall for the wealthy. The Trump tax cuts include rate reductions in virtually every tax bracket, but they provide much bigger savings for the wealthy than for anybody else. An average middle-income family will save about $930 per year in lower taxes, according to the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center. Tax savings, meanwhile, will average $13,480 for those in the top 1%, and $193,380 for the top one-tenth of 1%.
To spread the wealth around, nearly 200 companies gave out one-time bonuses earlier this year, most of them around $1,000. Yet most Americans say the tax cuts haven’t produced a meaningful improvement in their finances. In a February poll, only 25% of registered voters said they had noticed an increase in their paychecks from the tax cuts, while 51% said they had noticed no increase. In a March poll, 32% said their take-home pay had risen on account of the tax cuts, while more than half said they saw no change.
Since the tax cuts do cut tax rates for the vast majority of Americans, the underwhelming reaction among workers suggests the tax savings for many are simply too small to make a difference. For workers earning between $25,000 and $50,000, as an example, the average tax saving is about $380 per year,or $7 per week. Not nothing, but not much, either.
Average wages, meanwhile, are rising 2.6% per year.
The average Wall Street bonus hit an 11-year high of $184,220 last year, according to new data from the New York State comptroller. That’s largely because profits at Wall Street trading firms rose 42% in 2017, to the highest level since 2010.
Public U.S. companies are on track to buy back a record $800 billion worth of their own shares this year, which would be a new record, according to J.P. Morgan Chase. That’s largely because of the new cash freed by the sharp drop in business tax rates Trump signed last December. Share buybacks generally boost the value of stocks—since they reduce the supply of shares—which is a boon for shareholders.
The tax cuts themselves are a windfall for the wealthy. The Trump tax cuts include rate reductions in virtually every tax bracket, but they provide much bigger savings for the wealthy than for anybody else. An average middle-income family will save about $930 per year in lower taxes, according to the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center. Tax savings, meanwhile, will average $13,480 for those in the top 1%, and $193,380 for the top one-tenth of 1%.
To spread the wealth around, nearly 200 companies gave out one-time bonuses earlier this year, most of them around $1,000. Yet most Americans say the tax cuts haven’t produced a meaningful improvement in their finances. In a February poll, only 25% of registered voters said they had noticed an increase in their paychecks from the tax cuts, while 51% said they had noticed no increase. In a March poll, 32% said their take-home pay had risen on account of the tax cuts, while more than half said they saw no change.
Since the tax cuts do cut tax rates for the vast majority of Americans, the underwhelming reaction among workers suggests the tax savings for many are simply too small to make a difference. For workers earning between $25,000 and $50,000, as an example, the average tax saving is about $380 per year,or $7 per week. Not nothing, but not much, either.
Average wages, meanwhile, are rising 2.6% per year.
