You would think the National Business Review (NBR) would refrain from attacking wealthy people, since its customer base is business folks who are mostly quite wealthy. Yet this week, its two editors kicked off a discussion about the Inland Revenue's calculations regards how much tax wealthy Kiwi families are paying compared to others with the line:
"In this week’s news, Inland Revenue dropped a major report into the country’s tax structure showing up the aching divide between those that have to work a 9-5, and those that don’t".
The Editors betray a worrying lack of knowledge about data on working hours. In the US, the 2022 Population Survey shows the top 10% of Americans by income level work, on average, 47 hours a week, whereas the bottom 10% work, on average, 42 hours a week. That is, high income folks work longer hours than low income folks in America. Just ask Elon Musk, who regularly sleeps on the factory floor in his sleeping bag.
Can the Kiwi media, even the Business publications, stop their unpleasant portrayals of the wealthy?
