Professor Goldburn P. Maynard, Jr.: “Inequality & Taxation.”

“Inequality is a complicated, seemingly unsolvable paradox,” warned Goldburn P. Maynard Jr., Indiana University assistant professor of business law and ethics, at BYU Law’s Black History Month lecture. Inequality is inherent in our world, he observed, and striving for greater equality creates tension because it requires that we treat people differently. “I’m not going to pretend that inequality and wealth distribution are easy issues,” he admitted. Does improving equality mean that everyone should have the same starting point, resources, or opportunities?

Taxation is an imperfect but powerful tool for redistributing wealth to promote greater resource equality. Maynard championed several “big idea” tax policies that are difficult politically, including a higher inheritance tax. Other policies that have been proposed to remedy inequality are are cost prohibitive, such as ensuring a universal minimum “inheritance” for all, or are constitutionally problematic, such as race-based opportunities. Yet Maynard pointed to the Earned Income Tax Credit and the expanded Child Tax Credit as successes that demonstrate progress. “This is ultimately political will. Greater equality is not impossible, but it’s a dance.”