General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: "Name a Country Where 70% Tax Worked" [View all]JHB
(37,157 posts)Let's use a snapshot of good ol'1955, right smack in the middle of "I want my country back" territory.
There were 24 tax brackets. Converted to 2013 dollars (because those are the numbers I have) 16 of them kicked in at incomes above the $250K mark. Back in the Obama years the debate was "Is $250K 'rich'?" but, as if by magic, nobody mentioned that during WW2/Cold War capitalism, 2/3rds of the tax brackets affected incomes above that mark.
11 of those 1955 brackets affected incomes above the equivalent of $500K. 45%.
The top rate of 91% kicked in on taxable income above about $3.5 million.
It's not as if that did anything for us, unless you count getting out of the Depression, beating the Nazis and Imperial Japan, widespread postwar prosperity, and winning the Cold War. But if those thing were important surely we'd hear about them from TV talking heads with multi-million dollar incomes that would be directly affected by rates like that, wouldn't we?