> And why, exactly, is it apparently reasonable to have sales taxes that don't exceed 12% (disclaimer - in the states, as far as I know); capital gains at 15%;

> And why, exactly, is it apparently reasonable to have sales taxes that don't exceed 12% (disclaimer - in the states, as far as I know); capital gains at 15%; but my income at 25%, 35%, 45%? Sales taxes tend to be regressive. Someone making $50K a year pays the same sales tax as someone making $500K. You're throwing out percentages for income tax, but those are progressive: the 40,000th dollar earned is taxed differently than the 140,000th dollar. A wealth tax, especially in the US, would go a long was. Something like 2% on net wealth above (e.g.) $500M or $1B would slow inequality; below $10M it'd be 0%, from $10M to $100M it'd be 0.5%, then 1%, then the top rate. See Piketty's book: * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_in_the_Twenty-First_Century https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_in_the_Twenty-First_Ce...