To get Rich is Glorious, but only if Fairly

The United States witnessed an increase in pre-tax inequality, a rise the wealth-to-income ratio, and extraordinary top income inequality last four decades. However, wealth tax rates did not increase. To explain this, we build political economy model which people care about fairness approve of getting rich due to creating value rather than extracting from others. Simulations calibrations show that rational voters can allow for low levels redistribution even as they observe sharp inequality.