Marriage tax policy still serves the 1920s elite minority that shaped it

Evidence

It’s important to recognize that this tax policy was shaped by the needs of a very small, but very powerful, minority constituency: the Seaborns and the 5 percent of Americans who were paying taxes in the 1920s. Although the tax base has expanded, the policy continues to benefit one group—white married couples—at the expense of everyone else. — Dorothy A. Brown, The Whiteness of Wealth, 157

Categorization

• SEED: Path-dependence angle: policy legacies outliving their constituencies is a strong public-interest essay hook.