[related to making the connection] a column in the wall street journal, asks the question: open double quoteare capital gains so different from earned income that they should be taxed at a different rate? close double quote source: scott sumner and leonard e. burman, open double quoteis it fair to tax capital gains at lower rates than earned income? close double quote wall street journal, march 1, 2015. what is a capital gain? a. the increase in capital from one year to the next. b. a distribution of profit to investors. c. an increase in the price of a stock. d. a profit from the sale of an investment. in what way are capital gains taxed differently than salary and wage income? a. capital gains are adjusted to account for inflation. b. capital gains are taxed at a lower rate than salary and wage income. c. salary and wage income is subject to deductibles. d. salary and wage income is taxed at a lower rate than capital gains. one economic argument for taxing capital gains differently than other income is that investors have to pay taxes on their ▼ real nominal gain ▼ without an adjustment adjusted for inflation.