In a changing global economy, a large majority of Americans will not earn enough market wages to save for retirement or pay for the healthcare or education that are needed to compete. Securing these mainstays of the American Dream calls for serious tax reform. Closing the knowledge gap on U.S. tax policy, engaging citizens in public discourse, and helping the middle class exercise its power are the guiding principles of The Payback Plan.
A changing economy, a shrinking middle class, an affordability crisis, a growing national debt, and an outdated tax system—together, they are a recipe for decline. Despite overall economic growth in the U.S. since recovering from the Great Recession of 2008, real wages of the majority have flattened while globalization and technological innovation challenge workers to remain competitive. Meanwhile, the costs of health care and higher education have soared, retirement for aging Americans is increasingly out of reach, and global disruption destabilizes us all.
The spirit of upward mobility that propelled the country to world leadership status is eroding, and along with it, the American Dream. As these problems have festered, the government has cut taxes for its most prosperous and unnecessarily taxed those who are falling behind—all while running up a historically high national debt. The looming consequences coupled with diminishing social insurance are pushing serious tax reform to the top of the public agenda.
The Payback Plan invites you to take a seat at the table to envision a vastly simplified tax code to benefit all Americans (not just those with the most influence in the political process). This public policy initiative rests on a core premise: as the economy and society change, and income and wealth become more concentrated, tax policy must also adapt. The interactive tools on this platform empower you to examine for yourself how the Ameri-Share Tax proposal can strengthen the middle class and support broader, more durable prosperity for the entire nation.
Learn more in the links below:
Read the Ameri-Share Tax Proposal
Explore the Ameri-Share Calculator
Read the Book
The Payback Plan is an educational and advocacy platform that grew from decades of its author’s professional experience and research into tax policy. Built on the foundation of an open-access book (available on this site), this platform allows you to explore the Ameri-Share Tax Proposal interactively. The goal is to simultaneously put America’s financial house in order while growing the economy in ways that will advance its middle class.
As the cornerstone of the Payback Plan, the Ameri-Share Tax proposes to replace an outdated and complex federal tax system with a much simpler system designed to meet the needs of the future. The Ameri-Share Tax would replace the corporate income tax, the estate tax, and the payroll tax with a single, unified broad-based system that taxes all economic income the same and eliminates most special tax breaks and preferences that unduly favor some types of income over others.
The Ameri-Share Tax Proposal includes a rate structure that would adapt as economic circumstances change, transparently enabling all taxpayers to compare their share of the tax burden with that of all others. As a precursor, the Ameri-Share Calculator is a prototype to demonstrate this process.
Every tax system reflects choices about what to tax, what rates to use, and who pays how much. The Ameri-Share Tax Calculator is a tool that allows you to experiment with making those choices, and to see how the results shift the tax burden across income levels while working toward the same overall federal revenue target.
Change the rates. Compare the results. See who pays what.
Explore the Ameri-Share Calculator
Working prototype. Results are exploratory and not official government estimates.
Payback: Why the Top 1% Must Invest in the Rest and How It Can Renew America by Thomas Allen Moon makes a simple case: a weakened middle class weakens purchasing power and opportunity, weakening the whole economy and society, including those at the top. Payback argues that America’s tax system has failed to adapt to a changing economy, and that the middle class has suffered disproportionately for it. Ultimately, the book proposes tax reform to strengthen the middle class for a more resilient economy to benefit all Americans.
As the basis of The Payback Plan, the book asks the top 1% to make the investments necessary to preserve and grow the middle class—not as punishment for success, but to safeguard the opportunities that make success possible. It concludes with a series of policy recommendations aimed at broadening opportunity, financing public priorities and strengthening America’s long-term prosperity—ensuring that America retains its standing as the “last, best hope of the world.”
