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This story originally appeared in the Jackson Free Press. It was added to the Mississippi Free Press website in 2025.
Note that any opinions expressed in legacy Jackson Free Press stories do not reflect a position of the Mississippi Free Press or necessarily of its staff and board members.

Available in its entirety on YouTube, Nick Hanauer’s 6-minute TED talk has proven controversial because TED doesn’t want to post it. While some call it “political,” it may simply be a clear, concise refutation of the idea that the “rich” are “job creators” that ought not be taxes. It’s particularly poignant when you see where middle-class salaries have gone over the last 30 years of our Great Trickle-down Experiment, and where effective tax rates are.

Previous Comments

So true. This is why critical and analytical thinking are so important to citizens in a democracy. The rich have the power to shape perception through media and education (and the church). A truly free society is a thinking society. What is “TED”?

#167807 | Author: Renaldo Bryant | Date: May 24 2012

TED is an elite academic conference.

#167810 | Author: RobbieR | Date: May 24 2012

Mississippi native Donna Ladd and partner Todd Stauffer founded the Jackson Free Press in 2002 in the capital city. The heavily awarded local newspaper did many investigations heralded across the state and nation and served as a paper of record due to its diversity, inclusion, in-depth reporting and deep connection to readers and dedication to narrative change in and about Mississippi. In 2022, the nonprofit Mississippi Free Press, founded by Ladd and JFP Associate Publisher Kimberly Griffin in 2020, purchased the journalism assets and archives of the Jackson Free Press. A Google grant through AAN Publishers enabled Newspack's integration of the JFP archives into the Mississippi Free Press website to become part of a more searchable archive of recent Mississippi history and essential journalism.