Excellent points. Part of the problem I refer to is the enforement of taxation, which is difficult because of allowances for tax havens. Even if one reports foreign-earned income (Form 2555), foreign accounts nonetheless help many avoid a significant proportion of taxation. Part of the problem discussing tax history in the US is that it cannot be reliably simplied in the form of top marginal rates a the like, mainly because there are many ways to get tax reductions when one is nonetheless in a 37% tax bracket. Not all of that is paid directly to the IRS. Even when the top bracket was 70%, there were important reductions for business expenses &c. Now with improved methods for tax avoidance via tax havens &c, corporate investment is less of an incentive for those who can afford it, and small businesses do not have enough of an incentive to invest. Larger corporations, after 1980, have been able to unfairly benefit from legislation that lets them abuse pension plans, buy other businesses, more production and investment overseas, and avoid paying a significant percentage of their required taxes. Individuals also benefit from this, especially if much of their income is in corporate stocks and offshore accounts. The 1% has gradually paid much less in taxes each decade since 1980 than the 99%, who have had stagnant or reduced incomes since then. Improved tax laws would spur development.