(A) The real issue is not setting tax rates after some national soul searching, compromise and a moral-philosophical discussion about greed, wealth, liberty and so forth. It&#x27;s not about economic theories. It&#x27;s about practicalities. It is increasingly hard to tax the wealthy and large corporations.  This is for reasons that are not easy to remedy, and may not be remediable. The reality in all developed countries is that (1) total budget&#x2F;gdp is %35 - %45 and (2) the middle class pay disproportionately high taxes. This is effectively what you are working with as a leader in a 2016 developed country.<p>If you think you can get significantly more (ie percentage points of GPD) out of the wealthy... well... that&#x27;s the significant part. Tell us about that. Lets debate that. Personally, I doubt it.<p>I think we need to acknowledge that these are the parameters of our nameless, global political-economic system. It carries some parts of the capitalism, welfare state theories, labour unionism theories, but it&#x27;s pretty far from those on paper.<p>(B) There are examples in the US and elsewhere of high marginal taxes. This is not a venture into some unknown.<p>I&#x27;m not American, so no real dog in this race. That said, when I here someone talk in this way, as if from a sketchbook of political ideas, I kind of think it&#x27;s naive.