There’s No Such Thing as Pretax Income—Yes, You Read That Right

Sometimes, an unexamined word choice can lend clarity to how individuals see themselves in the context of broader society. For instance, if you’re driving down the New Jersey Turnpike rocking out to Bruce Springsteen when you suddenly come to a halt, you aren’t stuck in traffic—you are part of traffic. And when the jam does get moving, everyone going slower than you is a moron and everyone going faster than you is ... well, George Carlin delivered it better. You get the idea—a casual turn of phrase can be instructive in distilling down a central truth that a direct ...