David Cay Johnston

During the depths of the recession in 2009, as millions of Americans lost their jobs, homes and life savings, the highest-paid earners in the United States saw their average incomes increase from $91.8 million in 2008 to a mind-boggling $518.8 million. That's $10 million per week.

This week, David Cay Johnston published a thought experiment titled How Would You Invest $1 Billion Under the Current Tax System? Its premise is that if we use tax policy to boost demand, we can find more profitable ways to invest. It's a premise DailyFinance columnist and venture capitalist Peter Cohen rejects.