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90% superficially sounds unreasonable, because we have a tendency to think that wealth is distributed on a bell curve. But wealth is not distributed that way, i
by vannevar 16y ago
90% superficially sounds unreasonable, because we have a tendency to think that wealth is distributed on a bell curve. But wealth is not distributed that way, it is distributed according to a power law, which means that a significant number of people make in excess of $100M per year while others make less than $1000. If wealth were distributed according to skill and ability, the ratio between the highest and lowest would be much lower and billionaires would be as rare as 100 ft tall people.
The idea that a person could personally contribute the equivalent of $100M of value in a year per their efforts and skills (which ARE distributed on a bell curve) is absurd. It is this mismatch between the distribution of ability and the distribution of wealth that the rich exploit. So for someone making $100M/year, a 90% tax rate is not unreasonable at all.