https://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-nocera-tax-avoidance-...
There were also a lot of 'perks' paid for by companies, and a lot of spouses who didn't bother working.
You can have a high marginal tax rate, but it tends to be economically counterproductive.
The most extensive Laffer Curve study pegs the ideal top marginal tax rate at 73%.
It's useful to know where the ceiling is.
There are many people today that argue we should bring back Eisenhower level tax rates on the wealthy, and there are many others that argue we have to keep taxes on billionaires at the extremely low levels they're at today or they'll quit participating in our economy. Neither of these is true.
As soon as marginal tax rates came down, these things got eliminated -- it was far more efficient to just pay people.
Likewise, smart people tend to marry other smart people. If one does well, the other got taxed at 90%. Guess what actually happened? She didn't work. Huge huge loss for the economy.
That’s fine. It’s okay for humans to choose to live their one and only life in a way that doesn’t directly benefit “the economy.”
This is incredibly disheartening friends have complained about being involuntary housewives bc it would cost them too much to go to work