Do you think we should increase taxes on the rich? Most of us do, to the tune of about a 70-30 split in favor of bumping up those taxes. But what does that mean, exactly?
Reason Online takes up this question by asking people how high someone’s income has to be before they are rich. Not surprisingly, the answer depends on who you ask. If you ask someone with an income less than $50,000, the median response is that $200,000 a year is rich, but even $100,000 seems rich to a significant fraction of that cohort. On the other hand, if you ask someone who earns between $100,000 and $200,000, the response is that it takes $300,000 before you are rich.
A better survey question might be, should we raise taxes on people with incomes over $200,000? My guess is you might still get majority support, with substantial defection from those at and round $200,000 a year.