Archive: Richard W. Kopcke

Senior man working at laptop at home

Abstract This paper decomposes trends in the distribution of earnings over the period 1982-2009 and calculates the effect of increases in dispersion in wage and salary earnings on revenues from the U.S. Social Security Old-Age and Survivors Insurance payroll tax. This tax is levied on earnings, up to a maximum that, with minor changes, has…

A glass jar full of coins and plant growing through it with some coins and plant leaves.

The brief’s key findings are: The impact of the financial crisis on the consumption of retirees depends on how much they have in financial assets, how they invest, and their reliance on assets for consumption. The crisis had little effect on those 40 percent with very small amounts of financial assets and the top 5 percent wit…