# Being Pro Worker By:: [[Ross Jackson]] 2023-08-12 Increasingly there are political arguments within the United States about which of the two major political parties (i.e., Republicans and Democrats) is pro-worker. Historically the view was that liberals were pro-workers and that conservatives were pro-business. Since at least the 1980s, conservatives have argued that America’s “liberal policies” advanced by “elites” have hurt workers in the United States. Often their argument is focused on the “high” tax rates people are subjected to and that the government is taking money away from hard-working Americans. As the narrative goes, liberal policies are “out of control.” A simple four-square matrix examining CEO compensation relative to workers and the highest marginal tax rate provides an initial point for understanding what has happened over time. ||CEO Pay to Typical Worker [^a][^b]|Top Marginal Tax Rate[^c]| |---|---|---| |1950s|20-to-1|91%| |Today|399-to-1|37%| [^a]: The CEO-Employee Pay Ratio: [https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu/2015/02/23/the-ceo-employee-pay-ratio/](https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu/2015/02/23/the-ceo-employee-pay-ratio/) [^b]: CEO Pay has Skyrocketed 1,460% since 1978: [https://www.epi.org/publication/ceo-pay-in-2021/](https://www.epi.org/publication/ceo-pay-in-2021/) [^c]: Historical Highest Marginal Income Tax Rates: [https://www.taxpolicycenter.org/statistics/historical-highest-marginal-income-tax-rates](https://www.taxpolicycenter.org/statistics/historical-highest-marginal-income-tax-rates) In the 1950s, CEOs made about 20 times that of the average worker, and the top marginal tax rate was 91%. CEOs make about 400 times what the average worker makes today, and the top marginal tax rate is 37%. The numbers do not support that lower taxes produce a better worker outcome. Don’t get me wrong, people generally prefer lower taxes, and if people are taxed less, they keep more of their income. But American workers are not struggling due to Government tax policy. Rather, they are struggling due to corporate greed. Paying a top marginal tax rate of 37% would be less of a problem for American workers if corporations, aided by Republican policies, didn’t allow for rampant exploitation of the workforce and an erosion of collective bargaining rights and employment protections. It shouldn’t be surprising that the conservative party, which is notoriously pro-business, attempts to deflect what these data make clear. Sadly, many hard-working Americans are duped by conservative rhetoric and vote against their economic interest. Republican policies are not pro-worker; they are pro-wealthy. These data couldn’t be more straightforward. #### Related Items [[Politics]] [[Work]] [[Salary]] [[Taxes]] [[Analytics]]