Mediaite's "The Top 10 Songs Guaranteed To Annoy Liberals"

[JHB]

65. The thing is, the real effect of those high rates isn't really the direct levy...

...so much as changing the math for financial decision for high-earners. It creates a real cost to squeezing every last buck and sending it upward, so that at some point the wealthy decide the way to get the most for the resources under their control is to not simply pocket it. That's part of why those tax rates came with loopholes to shelter money and lower the effective rate. it was a carrot and stick arrangement.

However, for people who come into a lot of money quickly and don't have the sort of advice they need to make use of the "carrots" at that level, it hits them hard. According to Wikipedia, Taxman was written in 1966 (by George Harrison), which was not all that long after they hit big, and four working-class guys from Liverpool and the sort of promoters they hook up with would not be used to managing that level of cash flow. Thus, they got whacked early on, but they were able to get better advice and financial management later on.